Natara's Song
by bugreid
Summary: This is the story of how our two favorite characters grow up together and become best friends. But what happens if they get torn apart? Will they reunite and be best friends again? Or this time, will feelings change into something more? Songfic based on Taylor Swift's song Mary's Song (Oh My My My My) Sorry, I'm not that great at summaries...
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey you guys! I promise, I'm not dead. I'm very much well and alive! **____** So, I was going to post this whole story in my other story **__**What You'll Do For the One You Love **__**but decided not to, since this story is more than 50 pages long… Heh heh… Yeah. I didn't want to have 50 pages and more on one chapter, so I decided to break this story up and just upload piece by piece. If you haven't noticed, this is a short story (Sort of…) from the song **_**Mary's Song (Oh My My My My) **_**by Taylor Swift. I've always wanted to do a songfic from that song so I decided to do one! **____** Just remember, this is one whole story and not like WYDFTOYL (**__**What You'll Do For the One You Love) **__**where it's different situations every different chapter, if that makes sense? Whatever. It's one story with a few chapters. Discussion: ended.**_

_**The ones that are **__like this __**are what happens in the 'future.' You'll recognize most of them, I bet. They're really easy to guess where they are from, lol. Some of the words in the 'future visions' may not be right, but I tried my best, so you'll have to forgive me for not remembering. **_

_**This story is to make up for my OTHER one, **__**Drifted Apart**__** since I haven't uploaded that one in a while. I'm sort of on writer's block for that one, so I just randomly keep having ideas for songfics… It's crazy. But I'll try to upload DA (Ew, reminds me of Oscar…GROSS!) as soon as possible. Okay? Okay! **_

_**Hope you enjoy this first chapter! I'll upload chapter 2 soon! Please read and review! **____** Oh, and thank you to everyone who's ever reviewed on any of my stories. I really appreciate it and when I see that I have a review, I get so excited and it just makes me want to write more! **____** So, thank you. Thank you for reading this chapter, thanks for reviewing (if you did), thanks for reading my ramble up there… Just thanks.**_

_**P.S. Ryan, Hunter, and Oliver are based off of my three guy friends. They're hilarious! **_

_**P.S.S It may seem kind of boring right now, but I promise, it will get more interesting. This was just kind of a filler/starter chapter. Just keep reading! **___

_**Might as well do this now:  
I don't own Cause of Death or Mary's Song or Taylor Swift. Sometimes, I wish I do, but I don't. **_

_**And now, here is the story! Enjoy!**_

…_**.Or else.**_

**Mary's Song (Oh My My My My)**

"Pass the peanut butter," I ordered, just finishing spreading strawberry jelly on my two slices of bread.

"The what?"

"The peanut butter."

"What's the magic woooord?" my best friend since birth teased me.

"Pass. Me. The. Peanut. Butter."

"That's more than one word…"

"Now."

"No!"

"MOOOOOOOOOM! MAL WON'T GIVE ME THE PEANUT BUTTER!" I yelled to her.

"SHE'S LYING, MRS. MANSINGH!" He yelled back to her, scowling at me.

"BE NICE, NATARA!" my mom yelled back.

My mouthed popped open in surprise. I looked at Mal to see that he was smirking. I quickly recovered myself and stuck my tongue out at him.

He scooped a large chunk of peanut butter in his spoon and threw it at me. The peanut butter landed smack in the middle of my forehead.

"There's your peanut butter," he said, batting his long eyelashes at me.

My mouth formed a small 'o.' "You did not just throw peanut butter at me!" I exclaimed.

"And what if I did?" he replied smartly.

"Oh, I dunno. I guess I'd just have to do…This!" I exclaimed, swiftly scooping up some jelly and aiming it for his face. He was too shocked to move, so it landed on his cheek, leaving a large pink-ish stain.

"Did you just throw jelly at me?" he asked, slowly, wiping it off.

"And what if I did?" I mocked.

"Oh, you're so on!" he exclaimed, scooping more peanut butter out and throwing it at me. This time it landed on my arm.

"Bring it!" I threatened, sending another chunk of jelly flying across the room into his hair.

I quickly ducked for cover behind the table while he settled for behind the counter.

Pieces of jelly and peanut butter flew back and forth across the kitchen, splattering on our faces, hair, clothes, the floor, cabinets, and chairs. Soon, the whole kitchen was decorated with brown and pink colors splatter painted everywhere.

"What…What on earth is going on here?!" My mother exclaimed, looking around at the mess we had made.

"We're making PB&J sandwiches!" I exclaimed, brightly.

My mother looked at us disapprovingly.

"Uh-oh…" Mal and I both muttered at the same time.

Suddenly, my father walked into the room.

"What in the name of Mansingh Transglobal happened here?" my dad asked, eyes widening.

I looked at the ground.

"We were making sandwiches…" I mumbled.

"And?"

"And we had a food fight…"

To my surprise, my daddy started roaring with laughter.

"I can't believe… Two kids….This big of a mess…Priceless!" he blurted in between laughs. Soon Mal and I were laughing, also, glad to be off the hook.

My mom just watched my dad disapprovingly, pursing her lips.

My dad caught my mom's gaze and quickly stopped laughing. "I…I mean, that was very wrong to use our kitchen as a fort, Natara." He stated sternly, an amused twinkle in his eye.

"I'm sorry…" I apologized.

"You go and clean this up. I want this kitchen to be spotless. You hear me?" my mom asked.

"Yes ma'am!" Mal and I saluted.

"Good."

My dad started cracking up laughing again.

"So, who won the food fight?" he whispered.

"I did!" I exclaimed.

"No you didn't! I won!" Mal argued.

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Oh, I can tell already. You two are gonna grow up and fall in love, huh, Anita?" my daddy asked my mom, sighing.

Mal and I turned to look at each other, noses wrinkled.

"Can you just imagine these two being married? How crazy it'd be?" he asked.

"Oh my, my, my, my…" My mom said, rolling her eyes and walking out of the kitchen, my father following close behind.

I couldn't fall in love with Mal! He was my best friend! It'd be weird… I just didn't think of him like that!

Mal wrinkled his nose even more. "Ewwww."

"Ew? Eww yourself!" I exclaimed, offendedly, pushing him.

"Who'd want to fall in love with you?" he asked, sticking his tongue out.

"Who'd want to fall in love with _you_?!" I mocked him, looking at him in disgust.

"Anyone would fall in love with me," he replied, smirking.

"Well, not me!" I exclaimed.

"I bet you would."

"I bet I wouldn't!"

"Would too!"

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"Would not!"

"Would to-AH!" he exclaimed as I tackled him.

Somehow, during our tussle, I pinned him to the ground, sitting on his stomach.

"Pinned ya!" I exclaimed, smirking down at him in victory. He furrowed his eyebrows and said, "Hey! That wasn't fair! I wasn't ready!"

"You were so ready! Just admit it, I tackled you." I said, hopping off of him.

"No, you didn't. I just, uh… I let you tackle me."

"Suuure you did. You're just jealous that I can pin you and you can't pin me," I said, sticking my tongue out at him.

He stuck his tongue back out at me and replied with, "I can too. I just don't wanna hurt ya."

"Sure. That's the case," I said, rolling my eyes. Ugh, boys.

"Yep! That's the reason!"

"Well, are you ready now?" I asked, smirking.

"Yes?" he asked, confused as to what I meant. So I tackled him again. After about 2 seconds of rolling on the floor, I managed to pin him down once again.

"Pinned ya again," I said, letting out a small laugh.

"I wasn't ready that time either!"

Later that afternoon, after Mal and I had cleaned up the mess in the kitchen, Mal, Jason, Jackson, Ken, Oliver, Ryan, and Hunter, (some boys from across the street) and I were standing in my yard, wondering what to do.

"We could go skating?" Oliver suggested.

"Yeah, because we have a skating rink in Natara's backyard," Hunter replied, rolling his eyes.

"We could go play in my treehouse!" I exclaimed.

"Nahhh. Too boring."

"We could play football!" Mal suggested.

"Yeahhh!" we all agreed.

We all split off into two teams.

"It's only 4 to 3! That's not fair!" Jackson whined.

"I'll play!" I exclaimed, excited.

"You can't play! You're a girl!"

"So?"

"So, you'll get hurt."

"I don't care!"

"You still can't play!"

"Mal, tell them that I can play! Tell them how tough I am!" I whined, pouting at him.

"Mal, tell her that she can't play! She'll get hurt!"

"I dunno guys…She's pretty tough to be a girl," he said.

"See? I can handle it!"

"I dunno…"

"I'm tough! I tackled Mal today!"

"You did?!" all of the boys' eyes widened.

"Yeah! I really did!"

"I let her tackle me," Mal said.

"Did not!"

"Yes I did."

"You did not! I tackled you! I bet I can do it again, too," I said, smirking.

"Cannot!" He said, puffing out his chest.

"Can too!"

"No, you can't. You're seven and I'm nine. I'm older and bigger than you so I could beat you up!"

"Then do it!"

It was quiet for a moment. The other boys looked back and forth between Mal and me frantically. I puffed out my chest bravely.

Mal looked down at the ground shyly. "Forget it. Let's just play football," he muttered, before turning and walking away.

I smiled smugly.

I saw Ken run up to Mal and say, "You're really just gonna walk away?"

"Yeah," Mal shrugged. "I'm not hitting a girl. Especially a girl that's my best friend," he said, meeting gazes with me.

I smiled warmly at him as a wave of fuzziness filled inside of me.

"So… Who's ready to play some football?!" one of the guys shouted.

After an hour of tackling, scoring, and bashing each other's team, we all decided that we needed to take a small break. We all sat in one large circle, playing truth or dare. (Which I had suggested, by the way.)

"Jason, truth or dare?" Jason's twin brother, Jackson asked him.

"Uh, dare?"

"I dare you to tell Natara's mom that she's hot."

"What?"

"You heard me."

"You guysssss! That's weird!" I whined, trying to hold back a giggle.

"But it's true."

"YO, MRS. MANSINGH!" Jason yelled, loud enough to be heard from inside.

A few seconds later, my mom and dad ran out of the house, alarmed, obviously thinking that one of us was hurt.

"What's wrong? What happened?" my mom spoke, looking around the yard for a dead body.

"You're hot!" Jason randomly blurted.

"Wh…What?" My mom asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I said that you were hot!" Jason blurted out again, grinning like a normal 8-year old.

My mom looked taken aback for a moment before mildly blushing and responding with, "Well, thank you, Jason. Natara, I really like your friends." She smiled one last time before walking back inside the house.

My father playfully glared at Jason. He pointed at Jason, then at my mom. "Mine." He mouthed, still 'glaring' at him.

Jason's eyes widened before saluting with a "Yes, sir!"

My father nodded and said, "Good," before turning and walking back inside.

Jason let out a deep exhale. "Natara, your dad scares me."

I simply shrugged. "He scares everybody."

"Okay…So it's Jason's turn."

"Alright. Cool, cool. So, Ryan, truth or dare?"

"Truth, duh."

"If you had to live under the sea, which creature would you choose to be?"

"Merman." He answered immediately without hesitation.

"Ryan, you scare me." Oliver commented.

"Good," Ryan smirked evilly at him.

"Ryan's turn!" I chirped, ready for someone to call on me.

"Hunter, truth…..or dare?" Ryan asked dramatically.

"Dare, baby!"

"I dare you to go inside Natara's house and tell Mrs. Mansingh that you gotta poop!" he grinned widely.

Hunter's eyes widened.

"What?!"

"Go."

"No!"

"Dude, you can't like, not do a dare. It's in the Kid's Rulebook."

"Fiiiine. But I'm never going to get invited back here ever again." Hunter hopped up and ran inside the house.

"Well…While we're waiting. Who wants to go?"

I quickly raised my hand, as did Oliver.

"Oliver, you go." Jackson ordered.

I pouted at him.

"You'll get a turn, don't worry." Mal assured me.

I huffed and rolled my eyes.

"Ken, your turn, buddy. Truth or dare."

"Truth."

"Would you ever get a tattoo? What and where?"

Ken smirked at him, "On my butt that says 'I hate Oliver.'"

"Ken, you suck." Oliver stuck his tongue out at him.

Ken just laughed and said, "Alright, Mal, my main man. Truth or dare?"

All of a sudden, Hunter came running out of the house.

"What'd she say?"

"Nothing really…Just gave me this really strange look like I was on fire or something." He shrugged.

"Okay? Mal, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Who would you most like to kiss in this circle?"

I instantly blushed, knowing that I was the only girl in the circle.

He laughed nervously. "Well obviously I'd kiss you, Ken."

"Dude, that's gross!" Ken exclaimed, face turning into disgust.

"Calm down! I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" he assured us.

"Then who?" Jason asked, smirking at Mal.

Mal looked down at the grass, shyly, a slight blush forming over his cheeks.

"Natara..." He murmured under his breath.

"Ooooooooh!" all of the boys cooed. Mal and I looked away, faces now red from embarrassment.

"Mal and Natara, sitting in a tree-!" Oliver started.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Hunter then sang.

"First comes love-!" Ryan shouted.

"Then comes marriage-!" Jackson joined in.

"Then comes Natara with a baby carriage!" Jason exclaimed.

"That's not all-" Ken started.

"Okay, okay you guys! We get it! You can stop!" Mal exclaimed, his whole face red by now.

They all just smirked at us.

"You know, I can see them two together…" Oliver said, nodding his head.

"Natara, truth or dare!" Mal exclaimed before anyone else could say anything else.

"Truth." I uttered quietly.

"What is your favorite food?"

"Um, probably… Crepes." I said, shrugging.

"What?" most of the boys asked me.

"French gourmet," I said.

The same ones just raised an eyebrow at me, confused.

"French food," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Ooooooh."

I looked over to see Mal pursing his lips at me and slightly shaking his head as if to say 'Yeah, right.'

"_It's Chinese takeout!" a 33-year old Mal Fallon blurts out, just as Gil Franzen is about to trigger the C4 explosive and blow us all to pieces._

_We all stare at Mal in shock, myself included. Mal swallows nervously and continues._

"_Oh, sure, she likes to act all fancy and claim she likes French gourmet or high-end Thai…" He then grins, gaining confidence. "But there's nothing she likes more than a nice paper box full of Mongolian Beef."_

_My eyes widen considerably. I had told everyone that my favorite food was French gourmet… So, how did he know that? Despite my shock, a warm, affectionate smile spreads onto my face, visible through the gag. Of course he would know that…He knew me like the back of my hand. Gil looks back to see me smiling, his face arranged something into what looks like shock and disbelief._

I raised an eyebrow and he just shrugged in response.

"Natara, your pick."

"Jackson, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"If you had to describe yourself in three words, they would be…?"

"Hot, awesome, and hilarious." He said, without missing a beat.

"Jackson, you're about as hot as frozen pizza," Jason rolled his eyes.

"Dude, you just don't know, man!"

"Annnnywayssss, Mal, truth or dare?"

"I just went!"

"So?"

"Fine. But enough with this wussy truth stuff. I'm going with dare." Mal said, bravely.

"Guys, huddle." Jackson called, waving over Jason, Ken, Hunter, Oliver, and Ryan.

Mal and I stayed behind, awkwardly, looking around.

"I totally tackled you," I brought up.

"You so did not."

"Dude, that's an awful dare!" we heard from the huddle.

"I so did. You're too much of a sissy to man up and admit it."

"Really? We're gonna make him do that?! I love it!" Also, from the huddle.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

"Alright. We've got your dare," Jackson turned around, smirking evilly at the two of us.

"Alright," Mal said, nodding.

"I dare you to….kiss Natara!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, snapaloosa!" Ken yelled, grinning widely.

All of the boys laughed at Mal's shocked face.

"S….Seriously?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, seriously! You have to kiss Natara!"

"But-but… I can't kiss her! She's my best friend!"

"So?"

While this was happening, I was blushing…hard.

"I can't! It's weird!"

"Just do it, Mal! It's just a kiss! Don't make it a big deal!"

"But it is a big deal!" he exclaimed, eyes wide.

"How?"

"That's like… That's like Jackson and Jason kissing!"

Jackson grabbed Jason's hair and planted a sloppy, wet kiss on his forehead.

"See? If I can kiss Jason, you can kiss Natara."

Mal just glared at Jackson.

"As I said before, you can't not do a dare. It's in the Kid's Rulebook. If any kid breaks a rule in the rulebook, bad things are said to happen…" Jackson informed us with wide eyes.

"Yeah, it's like a pinky promise! Once you promise to do it or if you're dared to, you HAVE to do the dare. No matter what!" Jason cut in.

"So get up and start smooching you two!" Jackson added on cheerfully.

"You know you want to!"

I just blinked at everyone staring at me.

"Here, we'll help."

Oliver, Ryan, and Jason went over and hoisted me off the ground by my armpits. Ken, Jackson, and Hunter mimicked the other 3 except with Mal, who was squirming. I just stayed still and let them stand me up, too shocked to process what was going on.

I was about to kiss Mal, my best friend since birth.

After a few seconds, they all managed to stand both of us up, facing each other. We stood a few feet away, just looking at the other.

Jackson scooted Mal towards me, while Oliver did the same behind me. We were about 3 feet away now, standing stock still, unmoving.

I gasped as I was shoved roughly in Mal's direction. Mal immediately caught me in his arms, steadying me on my feet. We both shot a glare at Ryan, who was wearing a sheepish expression on his face. As soon as I realized where I was (in Mal's arms) I blushed and backed away a tad.

"See? You guys are halfway there, already! Now all you have to do is lean in and press your lips against the others!" Oliver exclaimed, oh-so-helpfully.

"Unless you guys want us to hold your heads and do that for you, too?" Jackson asked, smirking.

"If you don't kiss her, then I will!" Hunter exclaimed, smirking.

Mal shot a glare behind him. "I'm working on it!" He let out a huge exhale and met my gaze with his twinkling blue eyes.

"Do you want to do this?" he asked me.

I was speechless, unable to form coherent words. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish for a few seconds, no sound coming out.

"DUDE, TAKE THAT AS A YES! JUST KISS HER ALREADY!" one of the guys yelled.

"Fine….Fine. We'll just get this over with, so they'll leave us alone, okay?" he assured me.

I just nodded, unsure of what to say.

He quickly leaned in and barely pressed his lips to my cheek.

There was a series of complaints from the other boys.

"YOU CHICKEN!"

"Come on!"

"Naw, dude! The lips!"

"You didn't say where I had to kiss her," Mal said, smartly.

"You have to kiss her on the lips. Go," Jackson ordered, dully.

Mal sighed and shook his messy brown hair. He then closed his blue eyes and leaned forward, puckering his lips.

I blushed and mimicked his actions, leaning in closer, also puckering my lips.

"_Anyway, you're up, Mal! Truth or dare?" Kai asks, a wide grin on his face. Mainly, from the Veritox._

"_Enough with this wussy truth stuff. I'm going with dare," Mal smirks, cockily._

"_In that case…" Kai stops and inhales dramatically. Ken, Maria, and Amy all start doing a 'drumroll' with their hands, pounding on their laps. "I dare you to kiss Natara!" Kai exclaims, excitedly._

"_Oh snapaloosa!" Ken yells._

"_S…Seriously?" Mal asks, eyes wide in disbelief._

"_Hell yeah! You know you want to!" Kai mischievously wiggles his eyebrows._

"_Do it! Do it!" Maria chants._

_Mal glances at me curiously, silently asking if I wanted to do what he was suggesting. I reply by shrugging playfully and looking at him from under my eyelashes._

_Mal takes a deep breath and moves closer to me. He gently wraps one arm around my waist and pulls me even closer to where our bodies are barely touching. He slowly leans forward, to where I can feel his warm breath on my face, his face pressed against mine, our lips almost brushing and then… The lab door flies open._

I felt his lips just barely brush mine before I squealed and started running in the opposite direction.

"I CAN'T DO IT!" I squealed, while running.

"You just got rejeeeeected." I heard Ken tell Mal.

_**Later that night:**_

It began to get dark outside, so all of the boys, besides Mal, trudged back home.

Mal and I sat side by side in my large tree house, feet hanging over the edge, looking at the stars.

"I…I'm sorry I didn't kiss you," I murmured, looking down at the ground, embarrassed.

"It's okay." He replied simply, still looking up.

"Maybe…If you want to, we can try again? When we're older?" I suggested, not wanting him to be mad at me.

He smiled slightly. "Sure. When we're older."

It was silent for a few minutes as we just looked up at millions of shining stars.

"Mal?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah?"

"We'll always be best friends, right? No matter what happens. Best friends forever?" I asked.

"Right," He replied, grinning and making eye contact with me. His blue eyes were twinkling in the starlight, reminding me of these pretty lights that my family went to go see at Christmas time.

He gently grabbed my hand. Our intertwined hands swung back and forth gently in the breeze.

"Forever." He finished.

_**Please review! Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for Chapter 2!**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey you guys! I think I'm going to try to upload this one every Saturday… Well, we'll see where it goes from here, lol. So, today, I had my last basketball game as a JV basketball player. It was so sad and awful! Well, we were in the 'playoffs' or whatever, except we lost. (And I have an ugly bruise on my knee thanks to the elephant-sized girl I had to guard tonight!) Then after the game, everyone started crying, saying that they would miss me when I moved up to High School basketball next year. So I started crying (and I NEVER EVER EVER cry. Like, seriously. I haven't cried since I was a toddler…) and my best friend saw me crying and just broke down, sobbing. We all were in the stands and everyone was looking at us because we were just sobbing our poor hearts out! It was heart-breaking… DX It may sound stupid, but gosh. I'm going to miss those girls. Then, everyone started saying "Good job!" and "Good game!" and I couldn't respond because I was crying so I just sat there, blubbering like a crying, red-faced walrus, and just spoke nonsense back to them. Then, my whole team put all kinds of stuff on the internet, Facebook, Instagram, etc., about how much they would miss me and stuff and I broke down once again. Then, I had to go to this fancy buffet restaurant after the game… yeah. Needless to say, the tuxedo-clad waiters weren't too excited to be serving a frizzy-haired, red-faced, constantly tearing up, girl. It. Was. Awful. And. Sad. ;(**

**Anyways, enough with my rambling. Remember, the ones like **_thiiiiiiisssssss_ **are what happens in the future. So, now, I'm going to do something I haven't done in a while… Review replies!**

**Review Replies:**

**AKgal2001: ****Aww thank you so much! You're going to make me start crying again! Thank you so much for reviewing, following, and favoriting this story! I love this song, too. It's one of my favorites. **

**NiekaWow: ****Thanks! I'm glad you're excited for it. Hope you like it! Thank you for favoriting, following, and reviewing! **

**The Beautiful Filth: ****I'm glad I made you 'almost die!' (in the good way, though.) I miss him, too! D: Thanks for favoriting and reviewing for my story!**

**mozzi-girl: ****Thank you! And thank you for reviewing! **

**Miles Above My Head: ****Thank you for all of the following and favoriting! I really appreciate it!**

**BreezyFan: ****Your reviews always make my smile grow WIIIIIDDDDEEE. When I first read your review, my cheeks went numb from smiling so hard for so long. Thank you! And I'm glad I can make people laugh! Thank you for reviewing, favoriting, and following. Hope you like this chapter!**

**SaLTndPepper: ****Lol, I'm sorry! I don't mean to kill you! XD It's only fair, really, if I get back at you for killing me with your terrific stories! Nahh, I'm just joking. **** Thank you for reviewing! It put a big smile of my face! **

**My Quiet Riot: ****Thank you! I love this song, also! It's one of my favorites that Taylor Swift has sung. Thank you for following, reviewing, and favoriting! Thank you, thank you, thank you!**

**Crimson Endings: ****I'm glad you like it! **** I miss Ken… Awww, thank you! Thanks for reviewing, favoriting, and following! **

**And now, here is the chapter! Hope you enjoy! Please review and tell me what you think!**

**Natara's Song**

**Chapter 2:**

_***9 years later***_

"_DON'T STOP…BELIEVIN'. HOLD ON TO THE FEELIN!' STREETLIGHT! PEOPPPPPPPPLLLLEEE! DON'T STOP BELIEVIN' HOLD OOOOOOOOOOOON! STREETLIGHT! PEEEEOOOOOPPPPPPPPLLLLEEEE! DON'T STOP-" _ my eyes sprang open as my phone's loud ringtone burst through the silent, peaceful room.

I groggily grabbed my phone and flipped it open, silencing the ear-piercing ringtone.

"You better have an important reason for calling me at-" I looked at the alarm clock beside my bed. "8 in the morning on a Saturday, Fallon!" I growled, not even trying to hide the aggravation in my voice.

"Geez! Someone got up on the wrong side of the cave this morning!"

"What do you want, Mal?" I asked, tiredly, rubbing my eyes.

"Be getting ready. I'll be there in ten minutes," Mal informed me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You'll see. Just get ready. It's a surprise," he whispered.

"You know I hate surprises."

"Sucks. Deal with it, Mansingh."

"Ugh, I hate you."

"Actually, you love me because I'm the best friend ever! Be getting dressed! I'll be there in a couple of minutes!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, mother," I said, rolling my eyes, about to close the phone.

"Oh, and Nat?" he asked.

"Yes?"

"Happy Birthday." He said, before hanging up. I grinned slightly and hopped out of bed to begin dressing.

I quickly brushed my teeth and put on some warm clothes. Just as I finished putting on light makeup, I heard a loud beeping sound of a horn, signaling Mal's arrival. As I rushed to comb through my bed head I heard Mal beep the horn several more times. I rolled my eyes at his impatience and after grabbing my phone and purse, ran downstairs.

"Mal taking you out?" My mom asked me as I ran by her to put on my jacket.

"Of course. Who else would be blowing their horn that much in this neighborhood?" I asked, laughing a little at my best friend's craziness.

"Have fun. Try not to stay out too late." My mom waved me off.

"I won't. Bye mom!" I exclaimed, opening the door.

"Natara!" She yelled before I walked out of the door.

I turned around, curious as to what she was going to say.

"Happy Birthday, sweetheart," she smiled warmly at me.

"Thanks Mom. Gotta go! Love you!" I exclaimed as I shut the large mahogany door.

I looked up to see him leaning against his shiny black car, arms and ankles crossed, looking relaxed. As soon as he saw me walking down the driveway, he straightened up, while a smile spread onto his face.

He spread his arms wide as if inviting me to hug him. I cautiously took a step towards him before he groaned in frustration, crossed the rest of the way towards me, and enveloped me in a hug, squeezing tightly.

"Oh… Mal. I just got up ten minutes ago. Have some pity." I pleaded, groaning slightly at how tight he squeezed me. He let go and backed up a foot away, arms still stretched out.

"Haaaaapppy biiiirthdaaay tooo youuuu!" He began to sing, his smooth, velvety voice bringing shivers down my spine. I rolled my eyes nonetheless but couldn't keep the small smile from coming onto my face.

"Happpyyy biiiirthdaaaay tooo youuu!" he continued, using his thumb and forefinger to lift my chin up to where I was looking into his deep sparkling eyes that shined like blue lights.

"Haaaaapppyy biiiirthdaaaay, deaaaaar Nataraaaaaaa!" he sung, using both of his icy hands to pinch my cheeks like my grandma would. I slapped his hands away and rubbed my cheeks, fake scowling at him.

"Happ -" he continued.

"Mal, you know you don't have to sing this to me," I cut him off, giggling, knowing how much he hated that song.

"Birrrrthda-Oh, thank you God," he sighed, shaking his head. "I swear, that is the most stupidest song ever written in history."

"_Everyone's always being all fake and happy for you, even if they don't care…" Mal says, rolling his eyes. He, then, scrunches up his nose and continues, "And you have to deal with the fact that you're one year older… And the song… Oh God, don't get me started on the song…" he exclaims, dramatically._

"_You hate the __**Happy Birthday **__song?" I ask, trying to stifle a giggle._

_Mal suddenly throws up his hands in the air, momentarily letting go of the steering wheel. I quickly reach over and grab the wheel, setting our car straight once again, before we wreck._

"_Everyone hates the birthday song! They just don't want to admit it!" he exclaims while putting his hands back on the steering wheel._

"_That's not true!" I defend._

"_It is! It's a __**terrible **__song!"_

"_That might be your opinion…"_

"_There's no opinion about it! It's an objectively terrible song!" he exclaims, looking annoyed._

"_Wow… Here I thought you were just a humble Detective, it turns out you're also a music critic…" I tease, shaking my head in fake disbelief._

"_Yeah? Let's try an experiment. You're the big-time fancy profiler, right?" he asks me._

"_You know, that's exactly what it says on my business card…"_

_He rolls his eyes at my sarcasm and tries to convince me, desperately, "Next time, you're in a room full of people singing the Happy Birthday song, watch their faces…No one's really happy. No one's really enjoying themselves. It's just a bunch of people trying to get through that awful song as quickly as they can, and hoping they don't call too much attention to themselves! I bet you'd see more genuine happiness in a dentist's lounge."_

I just giggled in response. He took a step away from me, looking me up and down. His eyes widened considerably after a few seconds.

"What?" I asked, blushing.

"Nothing. It's just…Wow. Natara you look just… Just. Wow. I keep forgetting how much you've grown. It seems just like yesterday, we were tackling each other as kids," he remembered, a slight smile on his face.

"_Where's Natara? We're going to be late," Mal says, looking at his watch. _

_I step around the corner, careful not to step on the end of my red, silk dress._

"_I'm right here, Mal," I say, smiling widely._

_His eyes widen as soon as he sees me. He takes the moment to his advantage and looks me up and down, slowly, a wide grin coming onto his face. I also glance at his attire. He has on a plain black suit and black bowtie, somehow making the simple outfit look ravishing._

_Maria clears her throat, nudges Mal, and nods towards me, mentally telling him to say something._

"_Wow… Natara you look just… Just…" he's trying to explain, speechless._

_Maria sighs and rolls her eyes at Mal's helplessness. "Detective, I think the word you're looking for is 'lovely', and you do look lovely, Natara. Very elegant," she helps him out._

"_Well…" I look down at my dress and smooth it out a little. "I do like to dress up for a first date," I say grinning._

_Just as we are about to leave to go do our 'thing', Mal steps up beside me. He lowers his head to my level and whispers in my ear, "More than lovely. You look absolutely beautiful." My heart flutters and I look up to see his face. He grins down at me for a split second before following Maria out the door, leaving me completely bewildered._

I instantly blushed. "We? Tackling each other? I distinctly remember it as me tackling you."

"Okay, well maybe…" I gave him a look. "Fine. You always ended up tackling me. Most of the time. But I'm sure that I tackled you somewhere in there, also."

"Sure you did. Sure you did. Now are you going to stand there and argue with me or are you going to tell me why the heck you woke me up so early on a weekend?" I asked.

"I'm taking you out for your birthday, of course!" he replied, cheerily.

"What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Well, it being your birthday and all, we are going to go anywhere you'd like. Our limit is…Well, it must be inside San Francisco," he shrugged sheepishly.

"I thought you hated celebrating birthdays?" I raised an eyebrow, disbelievingly.

"I do! But it's your birthday. Not mine. Plus since you love birthdays so much and that it is your birthday I guess we can celebrate yours. Even though I absolutely dislike the whole 'let's all be cheery and act like we care' attitudes on birthdays, I guess I can be willing to forget my own feelings for a day…" he shrugged, like it was no big deal.

My mouth instantly popped open. "Is…Is Mal Fallon actually…Dare I say it. Being unselfish? Forgetting about his own opinions and doing something for me? Willingly? Someone call the papers!" I exclaimed, sarcastically.

He rolled his eyes and said, "Hush, before I take it all back and leave you stranded here."

A smile instantly crept onto my face. "I can't believe it."

"Well, hurry up and believe it because I'm ready to get out of your driveway," he replied, nodding towards his car.

I smirked at him, knowing that I had won.

"Fine, let's go." I said, heading for the passenger side.

"Ah, ah, ah," Mal teased right before I could open the door. I turned around to see him wagging his finger in a 'no' motion behind me.

"What?" I asked, confused.

He reached into his jacket pocket and tossed me his keys. I barely caught them before they hit the ground. I looked up at Mal, asking, "What is this for?"

"Well, we're going wherever you want, remember? I don't know where you want to go." He said, rolling his eyes and walking towards me.

"And you're letting me drive?" I asked, eyes wide. No way.

"Yes. Yes I am."

"But…But you never let me drive your car!" I exclaimed. It's true. I'd beg and plead him to drive his car just once for years, but he always refused.

"It's not every day that you turn 16," he winked at me, grinning.

I squealed and ran up to him, hugging him tightly.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!" I exclaimed, squeezing even harder. He was frozen in shock for a few seconds, before gently hugging me back.

"You're welcome," he let out a small laugh at my obvious excitement.

"You're the best!" I exclaimed, letting go. I quickly pecked him on his cheek, before running around the car and getting in the driver's seat. He stood there for a few seconds, stunned, before climbing into the passenger side.

I cranked up the car and buckled my seatbelt, giving Mal a glare before he repeated my actions, rolling his eyes.

"Well. Where to?" I asked.

"Anywhere you want to go."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously. Today is your day, after all," he replied, grinning. I grinned back, put the car in drive, and slowly drove down my driveway.

After a few minutes of going 30 mph, Mal sighed. "You do know that the speed limit is 65, right?"

"Yeah, but I just want to be safe," I answered, without taking my eyes off the road.

He groaned in frustration. "Come on Nat! A turtle just passed us! Speed up some!"

Instinctively, my foot accidently slammed on the gas, throwing Mal and I back into our seats.

"Okay, not that fast!" He exclaimed as I took my foot off of the accelerator.

"Hey, you told me to speed up," I responded, smirking at him. He rolled his eyes back at me.

_***Hours later***_

After watching 3 movies from the movie theater, getting my license, and going to 2 different museums, Mal took the driver's seat.

Mal, telling me that he was taking me to one of his favorite places to eat, parked his car outside of a large restaurant called _Rip Van Winkles. _I glanced uncertainly at the old, paint-chipped building, wondering if it was going to collapse at any second.

"Come on," Mal said, tugging on my hand, towards the building. "I know it may look like a dump, but trust me. You'll love it."

I shrugged and followed him into the building. Our waiter immediately showed us to a table.

After eating, we went out back and walked on the beach for what felt like hours, laughing and joking with each other.

At one point, Mal told me to stop and to wait there. I waited for a few minutes, eyes closed. He came back, took me by the hand, and led me towards a blanket surrounded by candles. Beside the blanket, were several large, smooth rocks spelling out 'Happy Birthday Natara.'

He pulled out (from somewhere) a large cupcake with a lighted candle sticking out of it. I gasped and covered my mouth at his thoughtfulness.

"Haaaaappy Biiiirthdaaay tooo youuu," he started to sing again, voice low. Shivers ran down my spine, and not just from the wind blowing either.

"Haaaaappy Biiirthdaaay tooo youuuu," he brought the cupcake closer to me, shielding the tiny flame with his hand so it wouldn't blow out.

"Haaaaapppy Biiiiiirthdaaaay, deaaaaar Naaaaaaaaat," I smiled warmly at his nickname for me.

"Haaaaapppy Biiiirthdaaaay toooo youuuu," he finished, holding it out for me.

"Make a wish," he smirked, teasingly.

I closed my eyes, trying to think of something to wish for. I racked my brain, but came up empty.

I eventually said 'To heck with it' and blew out the tiny flame. I opened my eyes to see Mal's blue ones staring right back at me, a hopeful expression on his face.

"What'd you wish for?" he asked, eyes shining.

"Nothing."

"Nothing?" He raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Nothing." I stated.

"Why nothing?"

"Because. I have everything that I want…Right here," I said, smiling up at him. He gave me a wide smile before handing me the cupcake and sitting down on the blanket. I sat down beside him, tearing the cupcake in half and offering one half to Mal. He gratefully accepted it and scarfed it down in a few seconds. I giggled and ate mine, slowly.

I looked around at the blanket, the candles, and the rocks.

"Did you really do all of this for me?"

"Of course I did."

"Yeah, but am I really worth all of this?"

"Of course you are, Nat." He smiled. "You're worth _**everything.**_"

"_Is saving Natara Williams really worth spending the rest of your life in jail?" I hear a deep voice ask. Or so I think. I'm struggling for breath, minutes away from dying. I barely hear Mal's reaction over my gasping._

"_No." he pauses for a minute. "She's worth __**more**__ than that…"_

"_She's worth __**everything."**_

After talking for about an hour, it had grown dark. We were now lying on the blanket, looking up at the stars, my head rested on Mal's arm. It was quiet except for the crashing of waves below us.

"Hey Mal?" I asked.

"Yeah?" he whispered back, looking down at me.

"Why did you do all of this stuff for me?" I looked up into his shining blue eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well. You know. No other person would let me drive their car around San Francisco, doing the stuff only I wanted to do, then come here, sit on the beach, and watch the stars."

"I wanted your birthday to be perfect. So you wouldn't think that birthdays are totally useless like I do. Just because I don't like birthdays, doesn't mean that I want you to not like them. I want you to be the happy, cheery, hopeful girl you always are. Not an old grump like me. I want you to enjoy it. Because you never know. It might be your last birthday. Live life to the fullest" He said, shrugging.

_Several hours after Mal's birthday party, I go to the roof, where I know Mal is hiding. As I enter, I see him sitting on the edge of the rooftop, seeming to be lost in his own thoughts. I step out after him and take a seat right next to him._

"_Hey. How's it going?" I ask, hopefully._

"_Honestly?" he raises an eyebrow at me. I respond by simply nodding and biting my lip, nervously._

"_Best birthday ever," he finishes, grinning. "…At least since my dad got me that BB gun."_

_I let out a breath of relief. "I knew you had that birthday spirit in you."_

"_Yeah, well, maybe seeing Grandpa McDepression made me realize just how good my life really is," he explains, nudging my side with his elbow. "That… And the cake was really good."_

"_I know, right? Who knew Maria could bake like that?" _

_He leans down and gently pats my hand._

_We sit in silence for a couple of minutes, gazing over at San Francisco's darkening sky._

_Very softly, I begin to whistle the 'Happy Birthday' song._

_Mal's serene look instantly turns into a scowl. "I __**will **__throw you over the edge. You know that, right?"_

"_Hee hee!" I giggle._

I nodded, touched.

"Speaking of living life to the fullest, I've got something to ask you." He said, swallowing nervously.

"What?" I asked, looking into his nervous eyes.

He sat up, me following soon after. His eyes averted directly towards the sand at his feet, refusing to make contact with my own eyes.

"Do you…uh. Well. I uh. I, err. I've kinda liked you for a long time now. And I, um. What I…I just said reminded me that I needed to do this before it was too late. So. Will you… Um" he awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

My heart beat fast inside my chest. Was he actually doing what I thought he was doing? What I had dreamed of him doing for years?

He inhaled deeply before blurting out, "I've really liked you for a long time now and I feel like I can't waste another second without you being mine so will you please please be my girlfriend?" He closed his eyes tightly, as if I was going to scream at him.

I froze in shock for a couple of seconds before a smile spread onto my face. He was asking me out. He really wanted to go out with me. And it wasn't just my imagination.

"Yes," I said.

He opened his eyes wide, staring at me.

"Y….Yes?" he asked.

"Yes," I repeated, giggling at his reaction. His shocked expression changed into a large grin, smiling for ear-to-ear. He laughed nervously before wrapping me in a hug.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. I promise I'll never hurt you," he said, firmly, pulling back to look me in the eyes.

"No, thank YOU. I was wondering when you were going to ask me," I replied, giggling. We both sunk back down in the soft sand, my head lying back on his arm.

He softly kissed my forehead before we both elapsed into silence.

"…What made you want to ask me out?" I asked.

"Well, this morning I got to thinking. You know, about life. And I realized something. Life is short. We need to make every second count."

"_Life is short. We need to make every second count…" I look at Mal, his face crumbling. "Go be with Oscar."_

He shrugged, pausing for a minute. "I figure that if you want something, you have to go for it. Because if you don't, it might get away from you."

_I look at an older Mal, who is leaning up against a shiny, new, black car._

"_This is the car I've always wanted, and I figure that if you want something, you have to go for it."_

_Suddenly his expression crumbles, his eyes turning sad. "Because if you don't, it might get away from you."_

He looked me in the eyes. "About us being together. Do you want this?"

I grinned up at him. "More than anything."

_Mal suddenly stops, breathing heavily. He gently presses two of his fingers to my lips._

"_Do you want this?" he whispers, hovering over me. _

_I don't hesitate with my answer. Because I know right away. "More than anything."_

I squealed and hugged him tightly once again. Soon, we both fell asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

**~CoD~ ~CoD~ ~CoD~**

I groggily opened my eyes as I felt something cold hit my feet. I lifted my head to see Mal beside me, sound asleep, softly snoring. A small smile flitted onto my face. Mal Fallon, my boyfriend. I just couldn't believe my luck. I looked down to see water lapping on my feet. Oh. I laid back down, closing my eyes, snuggling back into Mal's chest.

Wait a minute…Water? I sleepily pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time.

1:48 A.M.

Oh…

Wait. A.M.?!

"MAL! GET UP!" I screamed. Mal jumped at the sound of my voice, instantly waking up.

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"IT'S 2 O'CLOCK! I'VE GOT TO GET HOME! MY PARENTS ARE GOING TO KILL ME! YOU'RE PARENTS ARE GOING TO KILL YOU!" I shrieked, on the verge of having a heart attack.

"Aw shit!" he exclaimed.

I quickly grabbed his hand and ran towards the car, tugging him along.

"Hurry up!" I exclaimed, dragging him.

"I'm coming!"

We jumped into his car and sped off towards my house, Mal driving at least 20 mph over the speed limit.

"Mal, hurry up!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!"

"Slow down! You're going to kill us!"

"You said to speed up!"

"But I don't wanna die!"

"Either we die now by speeding or we die by our parents when we get home even later," he said, looking at me.

"Eyes on the road!"

Mal rolled his eyes and muttered, "Women," before he increased his speed.

He drove up to my house 20 minutes later, slowly coming to a stop.

"Thank you so much for today. It was the best birthday I've ever had," I smiled at him before leaning over and pecking him on the cheek. His cheeks started to blush.

"Uh, n….No problem," he stuttered. I giggled and hopped out of the car.

Just as I was about to start walking up my driveway, I heard a whisper, "Natara!"

I turned around to see Mal rolling the passenger side window down. He tilted his head downwards so he could see me.

"Yes?" I asked.

He grinned that heart-stopping smile of his.

"Happy late Birthday," he whispered, before driving off. I smiled in spite of myself and quietly snuck in the door of my house.

As soon as I got inside, I heard noises from the kitchen. I inwardly cursed. I was so going to get it. I tip-toed down the hallway, aiming to sneak by the kitchen as quietly as I could. I stuck my head in the doorway, looking to see if my parents were looking or not, when I saw a surprising sight. One that I didn't think I would ever see.

"Neha! What are you doing?" I harshly whispered, giving her a disapproving look.

She froze in her tracks, hand halfway in the cookie jar. My sister looked back at me with wide eyes. Oh yeah. That's right. I had just caught my 3 year old sister stealing cookies from the cookie jar. Her tiny face was covered in crumbs and chocolate. She spotted me then put her hands on her hips, sassily.

"What are you doing? Why are you home so late?" she asked, somehow knowing that I had broken curfew. Busted…

"I…." I trailed off, not sure of what to say.

She looked at me, one eyebrow raised sassily.

"…I promise not to tell mom or dad if you won't," I bargained. She stroked her chin thoughtfully for a few seconds before nodding.

"Deal," she shook my hand, leaving chocolate smeared all over mine, and turned back around to resume stuffing her face with the cookies that mom had warned her not to get into.

I sighed and snuck into my bedroom, flopping on my bed, exhausted. I had to admit one thing though…

Today was the best birthday ever.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Hi. I know. I'm an awful person/liar who said they were gonna update this story frequently. Well, I've had no time to type! I'm busy, busy, busy, busy! I've had cheer tryouts,(which I made, by the way.) my cousin broke his leg, meeting my sister's new 'boo thang', going to a Jason Aldean concert (which was awesome), and a lot of other things that I can't think of right now.**_

_**``````````````IMPORTANT STUFF:`````````````````**_

_**Got a weird pairing that you secretly ship and want a one-shot about them?**_

_**((So I was on Tumblr a few months (?) ago and I saw where someone in the CoD fandom (I think it was RP Kara? I dunno.) ask people if they would request an idea for crackfic, impossible pairings, etc. I laughed as I imagined some of CoD's impossible pairings, but I got to thinking… I realized that it would be a cool idea and that I really wanted to try it. So I began to have ideas and so on and so forth. SO! In order for me to write this, I must have pairings. And that's where YOU come in! I need you to review and tell me a couple of things.))**_

_**Name your favorite ship.**_

_**Name your least favorite ship.**_

_**Name a pairing that you've been dying to see.**_

_**Name a pairing that makes you want to puke.**_

_**Name a pairing that you absolutely love.**_

_**Name a pairing that would make you rip your hair out if they actually got together.**_

_**Name a pairing that you secretly root for.**_

_**Name a pairing that you never would imagine happening.**_

_**Etc. I just need pairings, okay?! I don't care if it's a main character, criminal, victim, if they're dead, alive… ANY character at all in CoD. Please tell me so I can write this and you can read it! **_

_**Read the rest of the author's note at the end! Please, please, please review!**_

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

**Natara's Song**

**Chapter 3**

_***Four Months Later ***_

"I promise. I'm just going to tutor him in Algebra. That's it," I assured Mal for the 100th time since lunch. He followed me out of the hallway, easily keeping up because of his height despite the 500 kids roaming around.

"You sure? Because I've heard from some of the guys that he's taken interest in you. And when Dylan Hall takes interest in a girl, he does whatever it takes to get her," he said, tone serious. Mal was upset because I had promised a guy in my grade, Dylan Hall, that I would tutor him in Algebra tonight. He was worried that he'd 'try' something on me since Dylan was the All-Star of both the football and basketball team and could easily overpower me. Or, that's what Mal thought.

We stopped at my locker, him holding out the books he had been carrying for me. I grabbed them one by one and stacked them in a neat pile inside my locker.

"I'm just tutoring. It's not like he's gonna murder me," I said, rolling my eyes.

"I still don't know. Something about that guy just seems odd to me…" he tried to get me to understand.

"_Look, I can't explain it… Something about the guy just doesn't add up…" I say._

"_Heh… That's great," Mal replies, looking proud._

"_It is…?" I ask._

"_Yeah, look at you. Going from the gut. Trusting your mojo," He smirks, winking at me._

"Well nothing is going to happen. It's simply tutoring. That's it. Nothing's going on, Mal. I promise you," I reassured him, closing my locker.

_I hear polite applause as the mayor steps off of the stage and merges in the crowd. My eyes flicker from him outside of the door where Mal is standing watching Oscar and me. Our eyes meet and he gives me a sad look. My hand raises as I give him a small wave. He smiles sadly and slowly waves back. My attention turns back to Oscar as I hear him clear his throat._

"_Ahem… Er, Natara, I hope you don't mind me asking this but is there something going on between you and Detective Fallon?" Oscar asks, nodding towards the door where Mal has turned around and started talking to Ken._

_I look at him in confusion for a moment. "Something going on…? Between us…?"_

_I bite my lip and continue. "Of course there is. Mal and I spend nearly every hour of every day together. We depend on each other in life or death situations… Just think about the level of trust that requires. Of course, there's something between us. It would be crazy if there weren't…" _

"…_Right," Oscar says, unbelievingly._

"_But if you're asking if we've ever been __**more **__than that…?" I sigh, twirling my drink around in my glass._

"_I suppose I was…" Oscar replies._

"_Recent events have shown me that working with someone you're intimate with can be problematic…" My eyes darken as I look at the floor._

"_You're talking about Shawn Mallory?"_

"_You know about that?" I whisper._

"_I'm sorry, Natara. I didn't mean to pry… Before I decided to put you on the stand to testify against Vernon Frist, I asked around, and I might've heard a few things… I'd understand if you were upset."_

"_No, I'm not upset. In fact, I'm glad you know. It means you'll get what I'm talking about… It means you'll understand why dating a co-worker is so difficult," I say, looking back through the door one last time to look at Mal, who says one last thing to Ken and turns to meet my gaze._

"If you say so… But I swear to God, if he harms one hair on your head…"

"_Did you know that you're number __**2**__ on the pretty little Agent's speed dial? You two must be very close…" I hear the pyscho, Vernon Frist, talk into my phone. I can just barely hear Mal's threat._

"_I swear to God, if you've harmed one hair on Natara's head…"_

I grinned and kissed his cheek.

"You're sweet. But I'm late. I'll call you later, okay?" I asked, going to leave.

"Wait," Mal called, grabbing my arm.

"Yes?"

He pulled me close, hugging me tightly.

"If anything happens…Anything at all, call me. Immediately, okay? If he tries to hurt you or kiss you or make you uncomfortable then call and I'll come pick you up. If I don't answer, then just leave. Okay?" he asked. I rolled my eyes. I swear, at times, my boyfriend could be so overprotective.

"Okay. I've really got to go now. Bye," I said. He quickly leaned in and kissed my forehead before letting go of me. I jogged down the hallway, towards the exit of the school. Just before I opened the door, I looked back to see Mal standing in the same place, watching me. He gently lifted up a hand in a goodbye gesture. I lifted my hand and blew him a kiss before pushing open the door and heading out, completely missing the way Mal's face saddened as I turned away.

_I've just been freed of being held hostage by Vernon Frist. I'm outside of the courthouse, about to get in the taxi after Oscar. I glance back at Mal to see him walking towards the courthouse with Ken, both talking in hushed whispers. I shake my head and get in the car, missing by an instant Mal looking back at me. The car begins to pull out onto the street but I don't look back, also missing the saddened look on Mal's face as the taxi drives away._

"Okay, so if y equals 16 then what does x equal to?" I asked Dylan, raising my eyebrow. I was currently sitting in Dylan's bedroom, on his bed, with Dylan himself looking over my shoulder at the book that I was pointing to.

"Well, you've got to divide by negative four so you'll flip the signs and it'll come out to be….8?" he asked hopefully.

I nodded appreciatively. "That's right!" I exclaimed, proudly.

He sighed in relief. "Thank God." I let out a slight laugh at his response. He replied back with a cocky smirk.

"So, now that we've finished that, why don't we take a little break?" he suggested.

"I don't know, Dylan. We've still got a long way to go and I have to be home by 10:30," I said, checking my watch. _**9:58**_.

"Come on, just a little break," he pleaded, pouting.

"We've only got 20 more minutes left and another 5 sections of this chapter to teach you."

"Pleeeeaaaasssseee?" he pleaded.

I sighed in frustration. "You've got 5 minutes."

"Ugh, thank you!"

He slowly walked over to his light switch and without breaking his eye contact on me, swiftly turned the lights out. We were in complete darkness, aside from the soft glow coming from one his bedside lamps.

"What are you doing?" I asked, warily.

"Nothing, nothing. Just getting… Cozy," he replied, sitting down right beside me, his legs touching mine.

He pretended to yawn, stretching his arms out over his head, and then casually let one drape over my shoulder, pulling me closer.

"You… You've got three minutes," I said, shakily. He wasn't going to try anything on me…Right?

It all happened too fast. Somehow he had pushed me backwards, laying me flat on my back and had crawled over me, hovering. My legs were in between his knees while his face was a few inches above my own.

I squirmed to get out from under him, but he had me pinned.

"So, Natara. What is the probability that you'd kiss me right now?" he whispered, smirking cockily.

I restrained myself from rolling my eyes. Stupid, cocky jock.

"Negative zero," I snapped.

His expression turned from cocky to puzzled. "I thought you told me that there is no such thing as negative zero?"

"Exactly. It's nonexistent. Like your chances of getting me to kiss you." I said, disgustedly.

"And why not? I'm a hot athlete. You're a cute nerd. You should be begging me to go out with you. So, why wouldn't you want to make out with me?"

"Let me count the reasons. I would never go out with such a self-centered person as yourself. You're cocky. You think the world revolves around you and only you. You think you're the best person on Earth, when in reality; you're nothing more than an attention seeking, immature jerk. And lastly, I have a boyfriend," I finished, smirking at his angry expression.

"Who?" he growled, nostrils flamed in anger.

"Mal Fallon," I grinned.

"Fallon? The senior?"

"Yep," I responded, smirking wider.

He rolled his eyes. "Please. I could so take him."

"You wouldn't stand a chance."

"How the hell did Fallon end up with a girl like you anyways?"

"_Well, well, well. You must be the FBI spook I keep hearing about. No one ever mentioned you were such a tasty piece… Now I get why they keep you around!" Dick Lugar, the tall, dark cop from the Oakland PD tells me, eyes roaming up and down my body._

"_Watch it, Lugar," Mal growls, an irritated expression on his face. He shifts so that he is in between Lugar and me._

"_What's wrong, Fallon? Don't like me hitting on your girlfriend?" he smirks at Mal. Mal opens his mouth to respond, but Lugar cuts him off. "Naw. I'm just kidding. No way you'd be able to seal this hot a deal."_

_He extends his hand towards me. I cautiously shake it, eyeing him._

"_When this all done, you give me a call, sugar. That is, if you're ready for a __**real **__man." Mal's eyes flash angrily and he opens his mouth once again to retort but I beat him to it._

"_Is there an event where I get to punch you? Because I'm feeling a __**huge**__ urge to punch you…" Mal folds his arms across his chest and smirks at Lugar._

"He didn't pin me to his bed and force me to go out with him," I said, sarcastically, pursing my lips at him.

"Oh, so you do want to kiss me?" he asked, looking down at my pursed lips.

"Like hell I do," I narrowed my eyes at him. There is no way that this jerk is about to take away something as important as my first kiss. Sorry, bud, but that spot was already reserved for someone important. And that someone was my boyfriend, not him.

He leaned in anyways, aiming for my lips. I swiftly craned my neck far to the right so he ended up kissing his bedspread. He pulled away, eyebrows furrowed.

"You missed," I smirked up at him in victory.

He leaned in once again, while I avoided his lips by craning my neck to the left. He growled in frustration, pulling back.

"What's wrong, hon? Why do you keep missing?" I asked, innocently. He let out a noise of frustration, put both hands on either side of my face, holding me there so I couldn't move my neck, and leaned in.

Oh gosh, Mal was going to kill me. At the last possible second, I turned my head so his lips met with my cheek, sloppily. I cringed in disgust and waited for him to pull away.

"_I'm just checking in on the lead. I gotta follow my gut. You know me," Mal shrugs from the passenger seat._

"_I do," I say, grinning. He smiles, leans over the seat, and gives me a quick kiss on the cheek, right before I get out of the car._

"God dammit, Natara, stop moving!" he growled, anger evident in his eyes. If I didn't put a stop to this, he was going to hurt me, real soon. Fear crept up inside of me but I pushed it back down. If only I could reach my phone and call Mal. But, that wouldn't do much good considering he lived twenty minutes away. I exhaled in frustration. I guess I was going to have to deal with this on my own. God forbid it if I even thought about tutoring a jock ever again.

"No! Your five minutes are up!" I exclaimed, planting my hands on his chest, attempting to push him off of me. But this guy weighed a lot more than he looked. He didn't even budge as he quickly grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head, also trapping my head in place.

Using one hand, he grabbed both of my wrists and the other slid down to my face, holding it still. I began to thrash about and squirm, trying to knock him off of me. I moved my lower body and kicked my legs.

Just as he was about to brush lips with mine, my knee seemed to have found its target. He grunted in pain as my knee flew up, straight in between his legs. Using his pain to my advantage, I quickly jerked my wrists from his grasp, planted my hands on his chest, and using all of my strength, just barely managed to push him off. He landed on the floor with a loud '**THUMP**', immediately crawling into a fetal position and cursing.

In a flash, I was off of the bed and sprinting towards the door, books in hand.

"Gotta go, Dylan. Bye!" I exclaimed, before running out of his room and house, towards my car. I hopped in my car and locked the doors. I sat there for a few minutes, trying to calm my racing heart and get back to breathing normally. Gosh, I thought I was going to get raped in there. As soon as I was able to speak once again, I quickly got out my cell phone and dialed Mal's number. To my disappointment, it went straight to voicemail.

"Hey, Mal. Listen, I know it's late but this is super important. I've…I've really got to tell you something. I'm driving home right now. Could you possibly meet me at my house? Please? You don't have to call back. Just please come, if you can. It's important." I hung up.

_I stand in the middle of the street, trying to process what the heck just happened._

_Oscar… He has just proposed. He wants to marry me. Confusion and an overwhelming feeling washes over me. My instincts kick in as I reach into my pocket, pull out my phone, and call the one person that I can always turn to for advice… The number that I've dialed so many times in the past._

"_Hello?" the person asks._

"_Mal, thank god I reached you. Oscar just proposed and I…" I stop as I hear his voice once again._

"_You've reached Mal Fallon. Leave a message. Unless you're Kai. Kai, we talked about this," his voicemail says before turning off._

"_Hey, Mal. Listen, it's Natara. I need to talk to you about something important. Real important. I need your help…" I look down at the ground sadly. "Call me back as soon as you can. Bye." I slowly press the 'end' button and look out into the street. _

"_Mal…"_

I then pulled my car out of his driveway and began driving towards my house, hoping to see Mal when I got there. I couldn't keep something like this a secret from him. Guilt would eat me alive. I was already feeling guilty about it and it wasn't even my fault. I'd feel a thousand times better if he knew.

Five minutes of driving later, my phone buzzed. I quickly looked to see it was a text message.

_**Be there in 10.  
-Mal**_

I sighed in relief as soon as I saw Mal's car parked in my driveway. He instantly leapt out of the passenger seat when he saw me parking my car. He ran to my car's driver's side just as I was getting out. Both of his hands reached up and instinctively cupped my face. His eyes searched mine, his face etched in worry.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt? What did he do to you? Oh my God, I've been so worried," he blurted out before wrapping his arms around me in a tight embrace.

"I…I'm fine," I stuttered, surprised by his sudden closeness.

_Three huge striped spiders crawl up my sleeve, heading towards my shoulder as I rise to my feet. They hiss at me, creeping closer and closer to my face. I stay perfectly still and watch as the spiders begin to calm, lowering their fangs._

"_**Natara! **__Hold on!" I hear Mal's voice exclaim from somewhere, but I don't dare move turn my head._

_Mal rushes to my side and, with one smooth motion, pulls the jacket off of my back and tosses it aside, sweeping the spiders away with it. He grips my shoulders, facing me towards him. He then brings his hands up to cup my face as his eyes roam all over it, worriedly._

"_Are you all right? My god, are you bit?!" he asks, fear in his voice._

"_No, I'm fine, Mal…" he breathes out a sigh of relief. "But where'd our suspect go?"_

"Thank God. So, what's this important news that you had to tell me about?" he asked, a little relief flooding onto his features.

'Um…Well. You're-You're not going to be happy," I muttered, leading him to my front porch. I sat down on the small metal bench on the porch and patted the seat next to me, indicating for him to follow my actions. He slowly sat down, eyes locked onto me.

"…What do you mean I'm not going to be happy?" he whispered, fear evident in his voice.

"You're just not."

"…Are you breaking up with me?" he whispered, looking away from me and gulping, obviously trying to hold it together.

"What? No! Of course not! Why would you even think-"

"Then what am I not going to be happy about?" he asked, impatience growing.

"Promise you won't be mad."

"…_You know how I sometimes do crazy, reckless things, and you're always mad at me?" Mal asks me in a storage room in San Trobida._

"_Yeah…" I frown at him._

_He sighs before replying with, "Hang on tight."_

"I don't know if I can promise that."

"Promise!"

"Nat…" he said, warningly, indicating that I should just go ahead and tell him.

"He…He tried to kiss me," I said under my breath, hoping that he didn't hear. Mal's body instantly went rigid beside mine. He stared straight ahead of him at his car, his shoulders tense.

"…What?" he muttered angrily.

"…He tried to kiss me," I said quickly.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I heard you correctly. I thought you said that he tried to kiss you!" he asked, disbelievingly, hoping that I would prove him wrong. I looked at the ground with a guilty expression on my face.

"He did what?!" he growled, springing up from the bench to glare at me.

"Wh…What happened to 'Oh, nothing will happen, Mal! Stop being such a worry wart! It's only studying!' Huh?" he hissed, angrily, fire replacing the usual sparkling, gentle blue orbs.

"I didn't do anything!" I defended myself, also standing up.

"Good Lord, Natara. You kissed another guy! While dating me!" he exclaimed in disbelief.

"I didn't kiss him! He _**almost **_kissed me!"

"You should've never gone to Dylan's house. If you hadn't gone over there none of this would have happened!"

"You can't seriously be blaming me for this?! I didn't know he was going to try to kiss me! All I knew was that I was going over to tutor!"

"I knew right when I heard that he was interested in you that he'd do whatever it took to get you. And when he invited you over to his house? Alone…? God, why didn't I see it before?!"

"What…?"

"You should've just listened to me! It could have prevented all of this! You never should've gone!" he exclaimed crossly.

"Why are you so angry with me?!"

"Because you decided that you were going to take the risk and go over there! What if he hadn't tried to kiss you, Natara? What if he had tried to do more? What if he had raped you? Or beaten you? Or forced you to do something that you didn't want to do?"

"I can handle myself, Mal," I replied, annoyed, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Can you? Can you really? Could you if he held you down? By force? You're not stronger than him, Nat."

"I don't get what such the big deal is! He just tried to kiss me because he likes me. It's not like you don't have girls drooling after you every day," I rolled my eyes.

"I-I don't!" he yelped, offended.

"You do too!" I argued back.

"Name one."

I racked my brain for somebody particular and one easily came into my mind. "That Olivia girl! The senior? Head cheerleader?"

He scoffed disbelievingly. "She does not! She doesn't even know my name."

"Then why does she talk to you every single day and bat her eyelashes constantly when around you?"

"So, what? She talks to me. A lot of people talk to me," he rolled his eyes.

"Well, 'a lot of people' don't flirt with you nonstop. She obviously wants something more than a friendship!"

"She does not! You're only saying that to try and hide the fact that Dylan was all up on you tonight!"

"No, I'm not! I'm 100% sure that she likes you!"

"Well, then. Why don't I just go date her?! Oh wait, it's because I have a _**girlfriend**_! A girlfriend who's out until 11 at night making out with some other guy!" His jaw clenched angrily.

"We didn't even kiss! And it was not my fault! Why won't you believe me?!"

"How do I know that you didn't kiss? How do I know that it was Dylan who originally initiated the kiss? For all I know, you could've been the one who tried to kiss him and got rejected so you blamed it on him!"

"God, Mal. Do you not trust me?"

"I don't know who to trust anymore, Natara! Who's not to say that you're the liar?!" He threw his hands in the air, exasperatedly.

I stared at him for a few seconds in shock, very much offended. He glared back at me. I felt as if I couldn't hold it in anymore. I was struggling to hold in all of my emotions, even though all I wanted to do right now was cry. I looked back up at him and felt my bottom lip tremble.

Suddenly, his words seemed to have come together in his mind and his face softened. "Wait, Nat. I didn't mean it like tha-" While he was talking, I shook my head and shoved past him towards the door.

He quickly caught my elbow and tried to pull me back towards him. "Please, wait, Nat. I didn't mean it. Please. I'm sorry," he begged, trying to hold on as I squirmed out of his grasp.

"No. I don't want to hear it. Let go of me," I growled, struggling to try and get him to let go.

"No, please listen. I wasn't thinking, Nat. I-"

"Don't call me that. No, I don't want to listen to you. Let go of me right now." I ordered harshly, ready to get away from him.

"Listen to me! Nat, I'm-"

"No. I'm not going to listen to someone who basically called me a whore and a liar." I finally twisted out of his grip and ran to the door, quickly going inside.

"Natar-" he started, but I cut him off.

"Goodnight, Mal." I finished.

"Nat, I'm sorr-" he said, starting to walk inside after me, but I abruptly slammed the door in his face, quickly locking it. I turned and ran up to my room, trying to hold back my tears as they threatened to spill out.

Back on the porch, just as I slammed the door in his face, Mal raked his hands through his hair, cursing darkly.

He leaned his back against the large mahogany door and slid down it, landing on the ground with his elbows on his knees. He put his face in his hands and rubbed it tiredly.

"What have I done?" He muttered to no one in particular.

Back in my room, I had my face planted in my pillow, trying to hold in the tears. I was not going to cry. I refused to. Crying is for children. Not for 16 year old girls. I took several deep breaths, trying to process what had just happened.

Mal and I had just had our first fight. Ever. Well, besides play fights when we were younger, but we've never had a fight as big as this. What if we stayed mad at each other? What if we never forgave each other and never talked again?

"_Well, we heard about you and Natara having your first fight…" Amy tells Mal, looking at the ground._

"…_You doin' okay, buddy?" Kai asks, eyes saddened._

"_What? What fight?" Mal denies._

"_Word is, the Lieutenant split you guys up. Natara and Anders are analyzing the Boogeyman's boogey-patterns, and you got sent down here to the crime lab…" Kai explains._

"_You 'heard'? That happened like three minutes ago!" Mal exclaims, irritated._

"_Word travels fast. But I want you to know that, if you ever need a shoulder to cry on…" Kai starts._

"_First of all, I will never go anywhere near your weird, gangly shoulders. And second… It was only a small fight."_

"_So it __**is **__true! Look, you don't have to put on a brave face just for us," says Kai._

_Amy slowly reaches across her desk and pulls out of box of tissues, placing them on the table next to Mal._

"_I'm just gonna put these tissues riiiight here, kay? Just in case. No judgements," Amy says, sincerely._

"_Guys. I don't need __**tissues. **__Let's just analyze evidence. You know, our jobs?" Mal growls, angrily._

"_Whatever takes your mind off your relationship troubles, buddy! It's like they say… Unlucky at love, lucky at crimes!" Kai exclaims, wrapping an arm around Mal's shoulders._

_Mal brushes Kai's arm off of him and responds with, "No. They don't say that. No one would ever say that. Now could you just analyze the damn doll?" Mal snaps._

Suddenly, my phone from inside my pocket buzzed with a new text message.

I slowly dragged it out and opened the message. My heart clenched when I saw who it was from.

_**I'm sorry.  
-Mal**_

I sniffled and pressed the delete button on my phone. A minute later, I got another text message.

_**Please, Natara. I didn't mean it.  
-Mal**_

Soon, my phone was being blown up by him.

_**I'm so sorry.  
-Mal**_

_**Please talk to me.  
-Mal**_

_**Nat…  
-Mal **_

With every new message that came in, they would all be deleted.

_**Come on. Please, please don't be like this.  
-Mal**_

_**Please text me back.  
-Mal**_

_**I'm begging you.  
-Mal**_

_**You don't have to say anything. Just let me do the talking.  
-Mal**_

_**You're not a whore or a liar. Please talk to me.  
-Mal**_

_**I didn't mean it. I swear.  
-Mal**_

_**Forgive me?  
-Mal**_

_**Nat, I know you have your phone.  
-Mal**_

_**I can literally see you from your window, checking it.  
-Mal**_

My eyes widened as I read the last one. I took a mental sweep around my room, looking for him. Which was highly unlikely.

_**I'm outside.  
-Mal**_

I quickly ran over to my window and opened the curtains just enough to see outside. And sure enough, there he was, sitting on the little bench on the porch, staring at his unresponsive cell phone, hoping that I would text back. I quickly shut the curtain and drew back, away from the window.

He was still here?

As if reading my mind, I got another text that read:

_**Yes, I'm still here.  
-Mal**_

_**Please let me explain…?  
-Mal**_

_**Please…?  
-Mal**_

After a few minutes of him getting no response, he sent back.

_**Okay, then. I'm still sorry. I was wrong. Please find it in your heart to forgive me.  
-Mal**_

I pressed the delete button to delete all of my inbox messages and quickly changed into some comfortable pjs. Just before I jumped in the bed, I peeked out of my window once again to see Mal sitting on the bench with his head in his hands, looking miserable.

He'll eventually get bored and go home…Right?

I quickly took out my phone and called my other best friend (Besides Mal), Lisa and informed her of what happened.

"What's he doing?" she asked me over the phone.

"Nothing. He's just sitting there," I said, eyeing him from the window.

"Wow..." she murmured.

"What do I do? He won't go home!"

"Well, obviously you should go outside and forgive him," I could just imagine her rolling her eyes.

"I can't!" I hiss-whispered.

"And why not?"

"You know why not! He basically called me a whore and a liar!"

"I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Sure, my butt!"

"Natara, you and I both know that he didn't mean anything he said. He's just stressed."

"…Stressed, my butt!"

"Go outside and forgive that boy!"

"I can't!"

"Just do it!"

"No…"

"Fine then. Just wait it out. He'll leave eventually."

"If you say so…" I hung up, taking one last glance at the boy outside, before shutting my curtains.

I turned out the light and crawled into bed, despite being wide awake. Suddenly, my phone let out a short, yet loud, buzz. I slowly scrolled and opened it.

_**Goodnight Natara.  
-Mal**_

Without deleting it, I just shut my phone closed, placed it back on my dresser, and after a while, fell asleep.

_**~CoD~ **_

"I'm serious, Lisa. He still hasn't gone home!" I muttered into my phone the next morning. I peeked out of the window for the twentieth time that morning. Yep, I could still see his car. My eyes slid over to the porch where I could just barely see him laying uncomfortably on the tiny bench, his legs spilling over the side because of his height.

"What's he doing?" Lisa asked me.

"I think he's asleep…" I muttered, unsure. His body was still, although I could barely see his chest rising and falling.

"Go wake him up!" she chirped.

"What? No!"

"Natara, you can't hide in your house forever."

"I can too," I said, stubbornly.

"He's never going to leave, you know. He'll just stay right there on your porch until you forgive him. You know how stubborn he is."

"Yeah, I know… But just-" I started, sighing.

"But nothing. Are you going to let this one fight break up the two of you? You've been best friends since birth. You're seriously going to let one tiny little fight break up all of that… Forever?" she asked.

I sighed. "No…" I bit my lip. I couldn't lose Mal. No way.

"Then go outside and forgive the boy! The sooner you forgive, the sooner you forget and go back to being all happy coupley!" she exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm. "Lisa, I hate it when you're right."

"Of course you do! Now go, woman! Go get your man back!" I hung up and walked downstairs, opening the door quietly.

I walked outside and looked to my right to see Mal in the exact same spot. His head was leaned back against one arm rest while his knees occupied the other. I quickly stifled my giggle and gently nudged his side with my knee. He groaned and brushed away my knee, muttering something incoherent.

I nudged him again, this time a little harder. His eyes slowly slid open sleepily and landed on me.

"Nat…" he mumbled, before closing his eyes again.

His eyes suddenly shot open and he looked up at me again.

"Natara?" he asked, disbelievingly.

"Hey Mal…" I murmured. He quickly shot up off of the bench, stumbling and falling to the floor. He scrambled up to his feet, standing up straight.

"Nat, I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking! I know it's not your fault. I was so stupid and I didn't mean it when I called you a liar and whore. I know you're not those things. I swear, I'm so sorry for blaming it on yo-" he started, before I silenced him by quickly standing on my toes and hugging him, squeezing tightly.

"I forgive you," I whispered, burying my head into his shoulder.

"Really?" he asked, breathless.

"Yes, really. I know that you didn't mean it," I nodded.

He sighed in relief and hugged me back, gently stroking my hair. "Thank God… I swear I won't ever do anything like that again. For now on, I'm going to keep my mouth shut."

I giggled as he blabbered on uselessly, promising that he'll be the best boyfriend ever and saying that I could drive his car from now on wherever I wanted to go to make up for his 'excuseless behavior.'

"_Well… Perks of the relationship. At least you get a ride to work every morning," Mal says, grinning lovingly at me. My sheets were covering him up from the waist down, giving me a wonderful view of his strong abs that I love so much._

_I grin right back at him, feeling happier than I had in a long, long time. "A ride? Oh no. I'm __**driving **__your car." I tease._

_He frowns at me, eyebrows furrowing. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, we never agreed on __**that! **__That car's my baby!" he exclaims, actually sounding worried. I giggle at him, amused at his worried expression, along with his hair that is all over the place from just waking up._

_I shrug innocently at him. "Too bad. Perks of the relationship." I grin one last time, before swiftly pecking his lips, jumping off of the bed, grabbing his keys, and walking out of the room. I can feel Mal staring at me from behind, so I purposefully sway my hips while walking out. _

_As I walk into the next room, I can barely hear Mal say, "…Is it too late for the talk about boundaries?"_

"Just promise me one thing, okay?" I asked.

"Anything," he breathed, looking relieved.

"Promise that you won't go and beat up Dylan," I said, looking at him sternly.

"Aw, c'mon, Nat! I was looking forward to that! I won't hurt him badly…"

"No. N-O, Mal Fallon. You're not getting expelled over something as useless as him anyways. He's not worth it."

"Fiiiiine," he sighed. "I won't hurt him…."

"Much…" he muttered the last part, low enough so I couldn't hear.

"What was that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" he grinned innocently. We both sat back down on the small bench, cuddling closely. His arm wrapped around my shoulders as he pulled me even closer.

"So… What did you do when Dylan tried to kiss you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I instantly blushed, thinking back.

"I…uh. I kicked him," I mumbled, my blush getting even darker.

He just blinked at me. "You kicked him?" he asked, confused.

"Yeah…" I said, wishing he'd change the subject.

"Where'd you kick him?"

I stayed quiet, looking at the ground embarrassingly.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as I refused to answer. Suddenly, his face lit up in recognition and he burst into laughter.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait. You kicked him _**there**_?!" he asked in between fits of laughter.

"Shut up! It was an involuntary action!" I defended, blush somehow growing even darker.

He bent over, holding his stomach, he was laughing so hard. "Sure it was. Oh my goodness, I can't believe it. My little Natara Mansingh kicking Dylan Hall where the sun don't shine… Oh God, I can't breathe! I can't even…" he trailed off, unable to finish his sentence because he was laughing so hard.

I swiftly swatted him in the arm, sharply. "I said shut up! It's not that funny!"

"Yes it is! It's hilarious!" he exclaimed. After a few more seconds of his laughter, he sat back up, finally calmed down.

"Ahhh. That's my girl," he sighed, ruffling my hair. "I don't think he's going to be messing with you anytime soon."

I grinned at him and rolled my eyes. "You're so immature."

"Says the woman who kicked the star football player in his weak spot," he said, chuckling.

"Mal, shut up!"

Suddenly, my father walked out of the house, completely obvious to the fact that Mal and I were cuddling on the bench. He walked straight past us and towards his car. He stopped just before walking down the porch steps, staring at Mal's car in confusion. He looked around, wondering where Mal was and why was his car here.

"Hi daddy!" I spoke up. He jumped a little, surprised.

"Gosh, Natara. You startled me! I didn't see you two there…" he eyed Mal's arm that was around my back suspiciously. I guess I had forgotten to tell my father that Mal and I were dating.

"This is your…Boyfriend?" he asked, eyebrows raised.

"_This is your…Boyfriend?" my father asks me, eyebrows raised. Mal and I had just entered the large room that held my family on Christmas Eve. I introduce Mal to my parents, seeing as Neha already knew who he was. I mean… Mal? My boyfriend? That's just crazy!_

"Yes! Mal and I are dating now, Daddy!" I exclaimed, excitedly, looking up at Mal in adoration.

My father pointed a finger at Mal warningly.

"I've known you for a long time, boy. But, for my daughter's sake…I know big people in big places. You hurt my daughter and so help me, you will not see the light of day ever again. Do I make myself clear?"

Mal gulped, fear in his eyes. He quickly nodded and said, "Yes sir! I promise I won't hurt her…Sir!"

"Good," my father laughed. "I trust you. Don't make me regret my decision." And with that, he walked off of the porch and into his car.

That Monday at school, I was rummaging through my locker, looking for a specific book. I heard gasps and whispers behind me, so I turned around, wondering what all the commotion was about. My mouth popped open as soon as I saw Dylan Hall, walking into the building, sporting a black eye. He ducked his head, so as to not be seen by everyone else in the hallway.

As he walked by me, he looked at me for a split second before diverting his gaze to right beside me. Or rather, who was beside me. As soon as Dylan spotted Mal's scowl and glare towards him, he cowered away, and ran down the hall, towards his classroom.

I turned to see that Mal had come up beside me while I was watching Dylan. I shot a glare towards Mal and scowled, mentally asking, '_What did you do?'_

Mal looked back at me with innocent eyes and shrugged, giving me a look that said, _'Nothing…Nothing at all.'_ Then he gave me a big, fake smile while batting his long eyelashes, trying to reassure me that he had done absolutely nothing.

I rolled my eyes and shut my locker. "You're in trouble, mister." I said.

"Come on. You and I both knew that I had to do _**something**_!" he pleaded.

I rolled my eyes and began to walk to my homeroom, Mal following closely behind, trying to convince me that he '_did the right thing_.'

As I walked, I couldn't stop the small smile that flitted across my face.

I told Dylan that he didn't stand a chance against Mal… I guess he didn't listen and he's got a black eye to prove it.

_**Remember to review and tell me:**_

_**1. Your OTP  
2. Favorite Random Pairing  
3. Worst Pairing You Could Possibly Think Of  
4. Pairing That's Just Totally Wrong  
5. One That Would Be Interesting  
6. One That Would Make You Laugh  
7. One That You Would Like To See  
8. One That You've Never Even Thought About  
9. One You Secretly Ship  
10. One That's So Awful You Can't Even Begin To Imagine It**_

_**And so on! I. Just. Need. Random. Pairings! Please! It'll help me out a lot to know what you guys want to see! Please please please?! **_

_**Hope you enjoyed! Until next time, my friends!**_

_**Hasta La Vista! **_

_**And yes, I did use Lisa's name deliberately. Throughout my stories, I will need random names here and there so most likely, I'll choose one of you. So if you want your name in here…Well, review because I have to know it. **_____


	4. Chapter 4

**So, okay. I have a perfectly legitimate excuse for not uploading in a while…**

**I broke my leg.**

**Yep, that's my excuse. I fractured my fibula. (Say that 10 times fast.)**

**So, I'm SOOO sure that you're interested to hear about it. Not really, but I'm going to tell the story anyways.**

**It's Saturday, April 27 at 10:40 A.M. It's also the day of the South State Track Meet that I get to **_**finally **_**participate in. I'd been training and running for atleast 2 months before this day. (And yes. I do run track. I run the 2 mile and the 1 mile.) I really **_**really **_**wanted this chance to go to the State Track Meet and maybe even win something. I had won 2****nd**** in my District Track Meet (out of 11 people) so I thought I actually had a chance.**

**Anyways, so it's 10:40. My first race, the 2 mile, which is 8 laps around a track, starts in 20 minutes. Man, I'm pumped. I'm ready to race and all that jazz. If I get 1****st****, 2****nd****, 3****rd****, or 4****th****, I get to participate in the State Track Meet.**

**Skip ahead 20 minutes and I'm on the starting line. There are also about 9 others on the starting line. I've been against more so I think I actually might have a chance. Anyways, the guy shoots the gun and we all start running.**

**There's one freakishly fast Senior who's like way ahead of us. The rest are bunched in a group.**

**So, I'm in 2****nd**** place for about 2 and a half laps and feeling good about myself. My breathing is fine and I haven't started getting tired yet. I actually think I'm going to place.**

**I'm almost done with my 3****rd**** lap when my right leg starts hurting. I just thought it was a cramp. During practice, my coach would tell us that if we had a cramp to stop and stretch it out, but I seriously doubted that he'd be happy with me if I stopped in the middle of my race to touch my toes or whatever. So naturally, I keep running.**

**Around the 5****th**** lap, my leg is starting to really hurt. Like, badly. As I pass my parents and friend on the sideline, they shout for me to "Pick up the pace" and to "Run faster." So I try to, but my leg thinks otherwise. As soon as I sped up, the pain in my leg increased. And I'm falling behind. I'm in 4****th**** place with a girl gaining on me. So, like the stubborn person I am, I ignore the pain and keep running.**

**As I run my 6****th**** and 7****th**** lap, I slow down a lot. I'm still running but not as fast as before. Oh, and I'm in 7****th**** place. Which sucked. I'm literally limping at a fast pace now, instead of running. My parents are confused as to why I'm running super slow and telling me that "There's only one lap left so run." I mouth to them simply that "It hurts." They look at me confused, but I run (Limp at a fast pace) past them.**

**It's the 8****th**** lap. I can barely even put weight on my foot because it hurts so bad now. The pain is unbearable. I'm almost in tears. I seriously only thought that it was a really bad cramp. But once again, I'm super stubborn, so I keep running because I want to finish my last lap. I refuse to quit, though. I just think to myself, 'I'm not going to stop. Stopping is for quitters. I'm not quitting. Quitting is not an option.' So I keep running. To make matters worse, I'm in next to last place.**

**It's the last stretch of the 8****th**** lap. I'm literally 100 meters away from the finish line. Everyone else has finished except me and one girl straight behind me. So it's either: be a baby and come in dead last place, which is my worst nightmare, or suck it up and sprint.**

**So I suck it up and sprint. Which was a really bad idea, by the way. So I sprinted my finish as next to last place. And I didn't even come in last. (Turns out some girl had an asthma attack during the race and quit, but she was okay.)**

**So I feel awful. Physically and emotionally. I'm disappointed that I don't get to go to State. Physically because my right leg hurts super bad. More pain than I've ever felt. I literally limp off the track.**

**My coach comes up to me. Like the nice man that he is (sarcasm), he simply looks down at me and is like, "You were 56 seconds later than your last time." I'm surprised by that. I thought it would be 3 minutes later.**

**I then nod and turn away to limp off towards my family when he (actually) notices and is like, "What's wrong with you?"**

**I just point to my leg and I'm like, "Cramp or something." He then tells me to go stretch it out before my next race. **

**I limp to my family and they're asking what happened so I tell them it's a cramp. I try to walk up the hill but can't, so my dad has to carry me.**

**Flash forward an hour, and I'm on the ground, yelping in pain. My best friend, being the gentle and merciful person that she is, (not) is sitting on my back, holding me down, and telling me to quiet down as she tries to roll out my cramp with some athlete stick thing that rolls out cramps. Boy, does it hurt. And she's not holding back.**

"**If you want to run another race this afternoon, you're going to have to let me roll out this cramp!" she repeatedly yells over my screams.**

"**Amber, gosh dang it! That hurts! Stooooppppp!" That's me, begging for mercy.**

**So by the time she has to run her race, tears have come to my eyes and I'm still hurting. I keep trying to walk on it, but I can't because it hurts.**

**When it comes time for my next race, my coach checks on me to see that my leg is swollen and not feeling the slightest bit better, so he tells me not to run it.**

**When it's time to leave, my friend has to basically carry me out to her car. (Because we were spending the night with my other friend for her birthday.)**

**Skip an embarrassing ride in a shopping cart in Wal-Mart and a sleepover.**

**It's Sunday and I'm back at home. My mother tells me to walk on my foot but I can't so she takes me to the doctor.**

**I find out that I have a stress fracture just from running and I may have come down on my leg too hard. So yeah… I ran with a broken leg and didn't even come in last place. So, I fractured my fibula. I got a boot and crutches. Yaaaay. - _ - The crutches may seem like fun, but they're not. They're aggravating and I hate them.**

**So I go to school the next day and everyone's asking what happened and stuff so I tell them. The best part though was when I heard my coach talking about me. My teacher asked me what happened and I told her. My coach happened to be walking by and heard that she said, "Wow. That's amazing."**

**He then turned to her and said, "No, that's dedication." Then walked off. And honestly? It made my day. Because he totally hates our class. Absolutely despises us. Especially me and my (earlier said) friend. And then he says I have dedication? *Does happy dance***

**Anyways, we had athletic awards day and I got the Academic Award (person on team who has highest grades) and 2 Saint Awards, which means I'm the 'good attitude' one on the team. As I told my friend, I'm the extra peppy nerd. **

**I also had to spend my birthday weekend with a broken leg on the beach. Let's just say crutches plus sand, doesn't work out. Speaking of birthdays…**

**TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I may have a broken leg, but I'm not going to let that stop me from having an awesome birthday! **

**Anyways, enough about my personal life. You came here for a story right? Well here ya go! Hope you enjoy it!**

**Will you make this the best birthday ever and review? Please?**

**Here we gooooooooooooo!**

_***1 year later***_

Mal had just come home for the weekend from his first semester of college. We both were sitting on the long bench in my backyard. Well, Mal was sitting up. I was lying down with my head in his lap while we lazily fed each other strawberries.

"How was school today?" he asked as he lowered the strawberry to my mouth. I quickly took a bite of it before he could jerk it away.

"Same old, same old. It's boring without you there, though," I pouted up at him.

He chuckled, "Kiss-up."

"Always," I grinned at him. He rolled his eyes and stroked my hair with his nonsticky hand. I leaned up a little, grabbed one from the box, and lay back down. I rose up my arm and held it out for him to eat. As soon as he was about to take a bite, I jerked it out of his reach and ate it instead. I giggled as he frowned down at me.

"Well, that was rude."

I shrugged innocently. "I got hungry…"

He sighed, smiling and began to slowly feed me strawberries. With his other hand, he resumed stroking my hair, lovingly, a relaxed expression on his face.

"Hey Mal?" I asked, looking up at the clouds.

"Hmmm?" he asked, sounding as if he was in a daze.

"Have you ever thought about the future?" I asked, eyes diverting to his face.

He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Like… Marriage." I looked away, suddenly embarrassed.

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Well, yeah. What about it?"

"Do you think… Do you think that we will get married?" I asked, curiously, trying to hold in my embarrassed blush.

He smiled down at me, genuinely. "Of course. There's no one else that I'd rather be with."

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, crazily.

"What if one of us has to move or something?" I asked, worriedly, sitting up and facing him.

He gently cupped my face in his hands and stared intently into my eyes, saying seriously, "We'll find each other again. I believe that we are meant to be together… Forever and ever."

"_I dunno if I'd say it like that. I would say there are things that are just…" Mal looks up at the sky, searching for the right words. He then switches his gaze to me, grinning._

"…_Meant to be," he finishes._

_I cock my eyebrow at him. Did Mal Fallon just say that?_

_He frowns at my stunned expression. "…What? …Too cheesy? …That was cheesy, huh?"_

I sighed in relief and flopped my head back down in his lap, satisfied with his answer.

After a few seconds of silence, I mentioned again, "Hey Mal?"

"Hmmmm?" he repeated again.

"When are we going to have our first kiss?"

That seemed to catch him off guard. He stared at me curiously for a second, shock and confusion written all over his face.

I stared back up at him to let him know that I was serious. We had been dating for over two years now and I still haven't gotten my first kiss…I mean, I can't wait forever!

"I…Uh. I dunno. Whenever the time is right, I guess." He shrugged.

"I'm 17. Almost all of the other girls in my grade have had their first kiss…. All except for me."

"Well, I don't want to rush it for you. You can't force a perfect moment to kiss…." He trailed off, unsure of where he was going with this.

I looked up and stared at him curiously.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I…. Well…. I want it to be perfect. I want it to be _**romantic**_. I want it to be the best moment of our lives."

"_You want the truth, Gil? Fine. I'm a Detective with the SFPD, and that's my partner, FBI Agent Natara Williams." He pauses for a second._

_What is he doing?!_

"_Now, I wasn't going to say anything for professional reasons, but honestly? I love her, Gil. I really, __**really **__love her." He says, a genuine serious look on his face._

_My eyes widen considerably, feeling as if they were about to pop out of my skull. My breath quickens as butterflies seem to explode in my stomach._

_He….He loves what, now?_

"_This is… Another trick… A ruse," Gil says, angrily._

"_You want me to prove it?" He asks. "Her birthday's October 24__th__. Her dad's name is Raj. She likes horses and hates cats. Look in her eyes, Gil. I'm not lying."_

_Gil turns to look at me, to see if Mal was lying. I nod my head in confirmation at him and look at Mal with shining eyes. I stare at him, trying to get him to look at me so I can look into his eyes to see if he is lying about actually… Loving me._

"_Tell me, then, Detective… What is her greatest fear?" Gil asks._

"_That's easy, Gil. It's herself," he explains without hesitation._

_I see Gil scoff, disbelievingly. "Oh, come on…"_

"_No, I mean it. In her darkest, loneliest hours, she worries that she's the kind of person that can't be loved… The kind of person that can't love back," he explains sincerely._

_My eyes are huge, I can tell, as I stare at Mal, wondering how on Earth he knows so much about me and how he knew that particular fact. I had never told anyone that. Ever. So… How did he know?_

"_She's been hurt, see… Hurt bad by someone she cared about… And she's afraid that she'll never be able to really trust another person again." He glances at me, not needing to say a thing. His eyes say it all. __**'I still love you. I always have. I would never hurt you, like those jerks have. I truly, sincerely, and deeply love you. Even after all of these years. You can trust me…'**_

_But it must be a trick of my eyes. I mean, sure, we went out while we were younger. But there is no way that he still has those feelings about me._

_Mal's eyes look at me for a second longer before sliding back over to Gil._

"_She's the bravest woman I've ever met, Gil. She's stared down serial killers and fought brutal criminals…" He trails off, gaining confidence._

"_But the one thing she's afraid of is that she might be too damaged to ever really be happy." His words hit me. Hard. I actually stop breathing for a second. He knew… Everything. Things that I hadn't even dreamed of telling anyone. They were buried deep within me, although somehow, he dug them back up. Secretly, I was insecure about this whole love thing. No one saw through it though… No one except him. For the first time in a long time, I feel ashamed. I bend my head down as the words strike me, knowing that every single word that he said was true._

_Gil looks back to see my head bent down in shame. His face saddens. "It's true, isn't it? He's telling the truth!"_

_Mal glances at me worriedly. __**'I loved you once. I'll love you again. I never actually stopped loving you. I can make you happy again…' **__I think I read in his eyes._

_Mal takes a tiny step closer to Gil, eyeing him warily._

_Suddenly, Gil's face switches to a determined look._

"_Have you told her you love her?" he asks._

_Mal's face saddens, looking guilty. "…No."_

"_Why __**not**__?"_

"_Because…" Mal pauses, looking for the right words._

"_The time wasn't right."_

_Gil looks at him in confusion, willing him to explain._

"_I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be __**romantic. **__I wanted it to be the best moment of our lives." He looks at me, meaningfully, trying to get me to remember our conversation from so many years ago. Of course, my brain flashes back to that long bench in my backyard, feeding each other strawberries and talking about marriage. I feel a sudden fluttering in my chest and my breathing falls short. Does he mean it? Does he actually still love me?_

"_But you've kind of tipped my hand here, haven't you, Gil?" Mal asks._

"_I… I couldn't have known…" he says, looking sad and worried._

"_Of course you couldn't. A guy like you, so obsessed with love… What would you care about messing it up for other people?"_

"_It's not like that!" Gil exclaims, defensively._

"_Of course it is, Gil! You want true love? Here it is! And you're ready to blow it up just because your boss is a creep!"_

_Gil looks angry and worried at the same time. Sweat falls down his cheeks and his nostrils flare. He starts to tremble, ready to challenge Mal._

"_Last question, Detective…" he says, looking desperate. His eyes meet mine as he says, "Does she love you?" _

_My eyes instantly lock on Mal's face, trying to get him to look at me, but his eyes are glued with Gils'. _

_I'm about to nod my head vigorously, ready to spill all of my feelings out, when Mal takes a deep breath. _

"_It doesn't matter." He states._

_We all look at him in a 'What?!' manner._

"_Maybe she loves me. Maybe she doesn't. And if you push that button, I'll probably never know. But you know what? I don't care. This last year, working with her? It's been the best damn year of my life. And all the C4 in the world can't take that away." He says, seriously, slightly smiling. _

_I hear a sniffle from above me. I look up and to see Gil's eyes watering and sniffling loudly._

"_That's… That's beautiful," Gil states, wiping his eyes. I agree, Gil. I agree._

_Mal takes a final step towards Gil. He is now standing right above me. He bends down and reaches out to gently stroke my cheek._

_His eyes meet mine as he softly murmurs, "I love her. I always have." If I didn't have a gag on my mouth and we weren't trying to take down this psycho, I would reach up and kiss this man right now. His eyes show that I should do my 'cop thing' now, while Gil was completely vulnerable, but they also held some sort of truth in them. That he actually did love me and always had._

_I look up at him and wink._

_After taking down Gil, I stand up and straighten my suit, as soon as Mal unties me._

"_Cut that a little close, didn't you?" I ask._

"_Oh, I had it handled, believe me," he smirks, cockily._

"_I'm sure you did. That was quite the little performance…" I reply, smiling._

"_Right… All that stuff I said…" he trails off._

_My face saddens. "You mean, what you said to get Gil's guard down… Your ruse," I make up, hoping he'll deny it._

"_Yeah. Exactly. My ruse," he responds, frowning._

"_Well… It was very convincing," I say, disappointed._

"_Maybe I picked the wrong career. Should have been an actor." He starts to turn away._

_I build up my courage, ready to tell him my true feelings. That I knew it wasn't a ruse and he meant every single word._

"_Mal, wait… You should know I… I…"_

"_LOOK OUT!"_

I smiled, pleased with his answer.

"Fine. Fine. We'll wait," I said, rolling my eyes but grinning anyways.

He softly chuckled at my response.

"But we will kiss someday… Right?" I asked hopefully, biting my lip.

"Of course. I mean, you can't not do a dare," he said, smirking. I instantly thought back to when we were younger and Jackson dared Mal to kiss me.

I grinned back. "That's true. It's against the Kid's Rulebook."

"And we have to do the dare if we get dared to do it… It's like a promise that you can't break." He leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "It's forbidden to break it. And you have to do it at some point."

I giggled at him, swatting his shoulder.

"You're so weird."

He grinned lovingly back. "I know."

I leaned my head back into his lap. After a couple of minutes of silence, I asked again, "Mal?"

"Yeah?"

"…Are you in love with anyone?"

"Are you asking me if I'm in love right now?"

(_**A/N So, I changed this one up a little bit. Don't hate.)**_

"_Oh, come on. Love does not make you act like a crazy person," I scoff, smiling, and look at Mal, who is sitting beside me shoulder-to-shoulder on the precinct steps._

"_Says who? I've gone a little bit psycho for love in my day," he shrugs._

"_Well, what about now?" I ask without thinking._

"…_Now? Are you asking if I'm in love right now? Or if I'm psycho?" he asks, frowning._

"_Both? I mean, neither. Not seriously at least, I was just…" I stammer embarrassingly. Why did I just do that?! I can tell that he feels bad because I am embarrassed and doesn't want to embarrass me further, so he decides to answer my question. _

"_Well, I'm not crazy. At least I don't think I am. You're the psychology expert…" he trails off, coughing awkwardly. "As for love, I… Can't say that I'm in love… But, uh… I'm not saying I'm __**not **__open to it, it's just…" he pauses, trying to think of something to say. "This is a weird question."_

_Why, oh, why did I just ask that?! What is wrong with me! I'm so embarrassed! I try to hide my flaming face with my hair, hoping he doesn't see me._

_He coughs and quickly changes the subject. "But enough about that. Let's talk about something more interesting. Like you," he grins, playful side coming back._

"_Me?"_

"_Yeah. Let's hear about Agent Williams' first brush with young love," he grins and looks at me expectantly. I sigh and decide to spill my story about Greg and the stupid card._

"…_Well, Greg's an idiot. He'd be kicking himself today," Mal responds, eyebrows furrowing, after I was done with my story._

_I grin and look deeply into his sea blue eyes. "Thank you for saying so… And in any case, what matters is I've found real love."_

_I could've sworn his eyes saddened when I say that. "…Speaking of Oscar, how are things with the wedding going?"_

_Oscar? Wait…What? Oh…Right. Oscar. Fiancée. Wedding. Husband. …Right._

_My face saddens. "Oh. Good, it's just… I always thought that planning my wedding would be something really exciting for me. But lately I feel like Oscar is more into this wedding than I am…" I trail off._

_Mal's face saddens with mine. "My usual cutting wit aside, it seems to me that this should be a mutual thing."_

_Mutual. He's absolutely right._

"Yeah," I said, looking up at him.

"Well, obviously," he rolled his eyes and leaned down to nuzzle noses with me. I giggled at him as he pulled away, smiling.

"You're so sweet," I grinned.

"Not as sweet as you."

Suddenly, my father stepped out of the house and on the back porch. He walked to where Mal and I were sitting/laying, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey Daddy!" I exclaimed.

"Hello sweetheart," he grinned at me. "May I speak to Mr. Fallon for a second?"

"Sure," we both echoed, waiting expectantly.

"Alone?" he asked, nodding towards the house.

I looked up at Mal, to see his eyes widen. I sat up and motioned for him to go.

"Go ahead, Mal. I'll wait here."

"Sure…" he said, slowly returning my gaze.

"He's not going to kill you…" I whispered, knowing what he was thinking.

"You don't know that…" he whispered back, getting off the bench.

Mal slowly trudged after my father, walking towards the house. Just before he got inside, he turned around and mouthed to me, "If I don't come back in ten minutes, call the cops."

I laughed and mouthed back, "Have fun!"

He sighed, shook his head, and followed my father inside. I stayed outside, looking up at the sky, and wondering what they were talking about in there.

_**(A/N Third-person P.O.V.)**_

Mal walked inside right behind Raj, silently chanting in his head, "He's going to kill me. He's going to kill me. That's it. Goodbye cruel world. My time here is finished. This is it. My girlfriend's father is about to take out a pistol and just shoot me right in the heart. Let's just get it over with." He stopped walking just as Raj did. Raj slowly turned around, towards Mal, a determined look on his face.

"You've been dating my daughter for… What… A year now?" Raj asked, eyebrows raised.

"Year and four months," Mal corrected then winced, hoping Raj wouldn't suddenly pull a gun out on him for correcting him.

"A year and four months, and during this period of time, I've noticed that she's… happier than she usually is. She laughs and smiles more," he took a deep breath. "I want to thank you for being good to my little girl. Thank you for watching over her…" Mal breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll watch her back, sir. Always," Mal promised, a look of sincerity in his eyes.

"Good, I'm glad for that. One more question before I let you go, though."

"Alright."

"...Do you love my daughter?"

"Yes, sir, absolutely," Mal nodded vigorously.

Raj narrowed his eyes. "Are you lying to me because I'm her father?"

"Heh, I wouldn't lie to you, Mr. Mansingh. Your daughter means the world to me."

Raj seemed positive with this answer, so he nodded and responded with, "Okay. You can go now. Keep an eye out for her, though."

Mal smiled back. "Always…"

"_May I ask __**you **__a question, Detective?" Raj asks Mal as they wait for the professional assassins to appear._

"_Don't see how I could stop you," Mal shrugs, taking a sip of his glass of scotch._

"_You've been partners with my daughter for… What… A year now?" he asks, raising an eyebrow._

"_Year and four months," Mal corrects quickly without missing a beat._

"_When we last met, you spoke glowingly of her. Was that for her benefit… Or did you truly mean it? Do you think she's fit for this work?"_

"_Heh, I wouldn't lie to you, Mr. Mansingh. Even if I thought I could get away with it," he grinned. "Your daughter's the very best I've ever worked with. She's dedicated and hard-working and so damn good, I never stop being surprised. I know you don't approve of her choices… But I know if you could see her out in the field, you'd be proud," Mal finishes._

"_Mmm." Raj mumbles, his thinking expression on his face._

"_Is she…." He starts, trying to get the words out. "Is she happy?" he asks, looking concerned._

_Mal smiles and reaches over, clinking his glass against Rajs'._

"_Yes. Yes, she is."_

"_Then I suppose that's all a father can ask for. That, and her safety," Raj shrugs._

"_I'll watch her back, Mr. Mansingh. Always," Mal promises, giving him a little nod._

"…_And I'm grateful for that." He took a deep breath. _

_After taking out all of the assassins, Mal is just about to leave when Raj calls out, "Detective!"_

"_What is it?" Mal asks, turning around._

"_You are a good man…" Raj grins, "And the right man for my daughter."_

_Mal looks taken aback. "You mean… As a partner right?"_

_Raj just sits down, pours himself a drink, and smiles, not even saying a word._

Just as he turned around to go back outside, Raj called out, "Wait, Mr. Fallon!"

"Yes sir?"

"You're not going to get my daughter…pregnant…Are you?" Raj asked, narrowing his eyes.

Mal's eyes widened considerably at his question. He was so shocked, he began to stutter, "N…No sir. Not a…at all, sir! I, uh… Absolutely not….Sir. Natara and I… We don't have a… um… Sexual relationship. I swear, we….Uh, we haven't done anything!" He held his hands up in the air as if to prove his innocence.

"_And all the while you've been working in __**close **__proximity to the dashing Detective Fallon on cases including a 'couples retreat' and… An undercover job as husband and wife? Well, isn't that something?" Lieutenant Anders asks Natara, grinning knowingly._

_Natara's face immediately turns from neutral to angry. How __**dare **__he make accusations like that! Who does this guy think he is?!_

"_Are you insuiting some sort of inappropriate behavior between Detective Fallon and myself?" she asks through gritted teeth. _

"Good, because then I'd have to kill you," Raj explained, laughing.

"Heh, heh… Yes sir," Mal laughed awkwardly, feeling both embarrassed and terrified.

"Now that we've got that over with, you can go along and have fun, son," Raj winked at Mal, before turning around and heading to his office.

"Uh, thanks?" Mal questioned, before repeating Raj's actions and going back outside.

_**(A/N Back to Natara's P.O.V.)**_

I sat on the bench, daydreaming about camping, of all things, while waiting for Mal to reappear. I wondered when my family was going to go on another one of our weekend camping trips. I grinned at the thought of Mal trying to hike up a mountain or pitch a tent. He was seriously clueless about the outdoors. That's what you get for being raised as a city boy, I guess.

_After several hours of walking, Mal and I are deep in the woods, looking for the mysterious murderer who killed Leonardo and Walter. I look behind me to see Mal breathing heavily, face slick with sweat and his clothes uncomfortably clinging to his body, slightly showing his ripped muscles underneath. _

_I giggle at his tired expression and tease, "Not much of a hiker?"_

"_No. Why would I waste a good Saturday afternoon staring at a bunch of dumb trees?" he grumbles._

"_Oh, you're a total grouch. I __**love **__hiking. The smell of fresh air… The sights of nature… The wide sky overhead…" I trail off, breathing deeply._

"_The buzz of the mosquitoes, eating you alive…" Mal interrupts my thoughts, grumpily._

I giggled as I imagined what it would be like if Mal and I actually went camping.

"_You don't understand. I'm not talking about the case," I say with a sudden realization._

"_What?" he asks confused._

"_The sun is setting in three hours, Mal. We just lost our GPS and our provisions. And the weather is… Temperamental at best."_

"_Oh come on, don't tell me we're lost! We can't be lost!" He complains. _

_I shrug and give him a sympathetic smile._

"_Can't you get us home using the sun or following the river or, I don't know, touching some moss?" he blurts out suggestions, hopefully._

"_The sun and the river can give me a general sense of direction, but we were walking for at least an hour before we got to the river. We're totally off the trail. If we followed the river, we'd find civilization, but it might not be for five or six hours… And we've got three before dark," I explain to him._

"_So we walk in the dark," he suggests one more idea before totally giving up._

"_No. It's too dangerous, especially if we're using a fast-moving river as our guide." _

"_Oh no… Don't tell me…" he mumbles disbelievingly, shaking his head._

"_We're going to need to set up camp for the night. It's the only safe thing to do," I say, slightly enjoying his angry face._

"_Come on!"_

"_That old tree I pointed out offered great cover. I think we can set up camp around it, forage for food, maybe build a fire…" For some reason, I am actually excited about finally putting my survival skills to use. _

_He gives me a skeptical look, eyeing me suspiciously with narrowed eyes._

"_You… You're enjoying this, aren't you?" _

_I grin at him. "Maybe a little."_

I mean, even if we did go camping, we'd probably freeze to death or fall off a mountain or something.

_I watch as Mal combs through piles of fallen branches, completely clueless as to what he is doing._

"_What am I looking for again?" He asks._

"_Boughs!"_

"_Bows?" He yelps as if I were crazy._

"_No, boughs! Thick branches covered in green leaves. We can prop them up to block off water in case it rains again!" I explain, a hint of amusement clear in my voice._

"_This is the dumbest thing…" he mumbles to himself, cursing._

"_Just keep looking, would you? If we get drenched again at night, we could freeze!"_

Scratch that, we'd probably die of starvation. Mal wasn't that great at picking out which food was edible or poisonous…

"_Now remember, there's no real rule of the thumb regarding which berries are safe to eat..." _

_I watch as Mal picks up a small white berry, staring at it curiously. He flicks it into his mouth, about to chew, when I warn, "Well, except don't eat white ones!" I smile in amusement as he quickly spits it out, hurriedly wiping his tongue on the collar of his shirt. I giggle as I see him literally licking his collar, gagging, and trying to get all of the white berry remains out of his mouth. He shoots me a glare that says, 'Thanks for the warning!'_

"_So I guess that's the rule of thumb. But besides that, just find some and bring them to me. I usually have a pretty good eye for it…" I finish. He rolls his eyes in a 'Yeah, right,' manner, and turns around to go hunt some berries._

"_Oh, and bugs! Look for insects!" I call out to him._

_He stops and turns around, muttering slowly, "…Insects," as if he didn't hear me._

_I nod in confirmation. "Yeah, insects! We're stuck in the woods! There's nothing wrong with eating insects!" I defend._

"_Except that… It's completely gross?" he scrunches his nose up in a disgusted way and begins to fake gag._

"_I'll have you know that in many cultures around the world, insects form a foundational food group. In some, they're even considered a delicacy!"_

"_Yeah… I've got a better idea," he smirks, looking cocky._

"_And what's that?" I ask, raising an eyebrow._

_He replies by simply smiling. In a flash, he whips his pistol out of his holster and without even looking, fires behind him._

"_What the hell was that?!" I ask, bewildered._

_He just grins at me in return and walks into the brush. I try to peek over his shoulder to see what he is looking at. He eventually stands up and turns around, holding a rabbit carcass._

"_**That…**__is dinner!" he grins smugly, holding up his prize proudly. Well… Much better than eating insects…_

We probably wouldn't last, even for a couple of hours, outside camping in the woods…

_Hours later, Mal and I lay side-by-side in the tree, stomachs full of cooked rabbit, gazing at the stars up above us. A light rains begins to pour down so I press up against him for warmth while he gently wraps an arm around me, holding me closely._

"_It's funny…" he brings up, right after our discussion about our fathers._

"_What is?" I ask, looking up into his sea blue eyes._

"_Your dad doesn't talk to you because you became a cop. __**I **__don't talk to my dad because he became a criminal."_

"_Guess we're both destined to be alone," I shrug, hopelessly._

_He grins and tightens his hold on me, bringing me even closer. "Naw…" he starts. He gently lifts my chin up to face him, so he can gaze into my eyes. "We've got each other." He finishes, eyes hiding a mysterious, secret promise behind them. A promise that says he will never leave me, no matter where I go._

_I smile and nuzzle into the crook of his arm, trying to hold back my sudden blush._

"_Nat…" he murmurs, grinning down at me as I try to hide my burning cheeks._

"_Yeah?" I ask, grinning back._

_He takes a deep breath. Like he's about to admit something very important. Just as the words are about to come out, he blurts, instead, "…You can go to sleep if you want. I'll keep first watch. You know, in case whoever killed Leonard and Walter is still out there."_

"_Thanks," I smile and rest my head on his shoulder. I completely miss Mal making a face and silently cursing himself for 'not being a man' and 'just spitting it out.' He runs his fingers through his hair with his other hand, frustratingly._

_His chest heaves as he takes a long, deep breath. _

"_Natara… I love you," he admits, quietly, biting his lip while waiting for my answer. His eyebrows furrow as he doesn't hear my response. He looks down to see me already in a deep sleep, completely worn out. He smiles slightly and squeezes me tighter, wrapping his other arm around me for extra warmth, so he was hugging me to him._

"_I always have…" he mumbles, before gently kissing me on the forehead and placing his head there for the night._

Yep… He'd never make it out in the woods. Ever…

I was stirred from my thoughts as Mal opened the back door and stepped outside, walking towards me.

I quickly leaned up and watched him as he sat down in his usual spot, not saying a word. I stayed sitting straight up while looking at him.

"Well?" I asked, curiously.

"Well what?" he replied, a hint of a smirk forming on his face.

"Well, what was that about?"

"Nothing important… Strawberry?" he asked, holding one up to my mouth.

I rolled my eyes and took a bite anyways. "What'd he say?"

"Nothing."

I gave him a playful glare. "Mal!"

"Nat."

"Come on!"

"It's not bad, I swear. Do you trust me?"

"….I do."

"_You ever think about getting hitched?" Mal asks me suddenly._

"_Like…With a specific person? Or in the abstract?" I ask._

"_Both." _

"_No… And yes."_

"_Heh, that's funny. I don't know that I would've pegged you as the marrying type," he smirked leaning back into the couch of 'Charles and Claudette Waldencrest's temporary home.'_

"_Oh, sure, the rational part of me knows it's an archaic ritual with misogynistic implications that's largely unnecessary in our modern age…But on the other hand… What little girl doesn't dream of walking down the aisle in a big, poofy, white dress?"_

"_Heh… You really do have a thing for poofy dresses, don't you?" he mocks._

"_The Princess thing was a fluke, I told you that!"_

"_Yeah, yeah. The real question is, who do you picture yourself walking down the aisle __**with**__?" he asks, looking straight into my eyes. He pauses for a second before finishing with, "Does D.A. Dashing have a wedding in store?"_

_I glance down at the ground for a moment, then back up to him, sadly._

"_Ah hell… Did you guys…?" he trails off._

"_Yeah. He broke up with me."_

"_Damn, Nat. I'm sorry."_

"_No, don't be sorry," I reassure. "It was my fault."_

"_I find that hard to believe."_

"_Well… I did treat him like a suspect in the Ladykiller investigation. He didn't exactly take that well."_

_Mal's face turns from sad to angry. "You were doing your job. He was a legitimate suspect, and he wouldn't have been in that spot if he hadn't lied to you."_

"_I know. And I'm still angry at him about that. But it doesn't really matter, does it? I was his girlfriend, and I'm an FBI profiler. I should have __**known **__he wasn't a killer."_

"_You couldn't __**know **__that…" he tries to make me feel better._

"_I could have though. That's the thing. And honestly, deep inside, I think maybe I did. But after what happened with Shawn, I just… I was afraid of letting myself be manipulated like that… I forced my brain to ignore what my heart was saying. I don't know. Maybe I'm just not fit for romance," I say, shrugging sadly._

"_Come on… That's crazy," Mal replies, rolling his eyes._

"_I mean it. Trust is the foundation of any relationship… But I honestly don't know if I'll be able to trust again."_

_Mal shakes his head, pursing his lips at me. He takes a deep breath and whispers, "…Do you remember when we first met?"_

"_Of course. It was just about a year ago. We were investigating the Maskmaker," I nod._

"_After we busted Dr. Rose, I took you out for dinner, and we talked on the patio of the restaurant. I told you about how my wife had just left me…" he trails off, wanting me to finish for him._

"_And I told you that you were going to be okay," I finish for him, smiling slightly._

_Mal reaches over and gently takes my hand in his, intertwining our fingers. Using his other hand, he takes my chin and lifts it up so I can look deep into his eyes. _

"_Special Agent Natara Williams… You're going to be okay," he says, smiling._

"…_Thanks, Mal. That's nice of you to say. But I still don't know how I'll ever really trust another guy again."_

"_See? That's crazy. You trust me, right?"_

_I look up to see him staring right back at me. His face is so earnest… Gentle… So open. I look deep into his sparkling cerulean eyes and murmur, "…I do."_

_We both sit there for a moment, not saying a word, completely lost in each other's eyes. We both simultaneously start to lean in, him tilting his head downwards, towards mine. For a second, I can feel his warm breath on my face as he leans even closer, our noses almost touching. We lean in a little closer, to where our lips are just about to brush._

_And suddenly, Mal seems to snap out of his daze. He quickly stands up and rakes a hand through his hair, awkwardly. "Look, I… I should go get some fresh air. Make sure nothing else is going on."_

"_Right. Yeah. That's a g…good idea," I mumble, looking down at the ground._

"_I'll… I'll be back in a few."_

_I see him adjust his tie and slowly turn around to walk out. As soon as he closes the door, I softly call out, "Mal…" But it's too late._

_He's gone._

_~CoD~_

"_Next time, you should trust the guy who's lived in San Francisco his entire life," Mal smirks at me, the slight wind blowing his hair back._

_I sigh, looking out over the rooftops of San Francisco. "I do trust you, Mal. You know that. I just…"_

"Then don't worry about it. It's not like I'm planning an assassination on you with your father," he rolled his eyes at me, holding out another strawberry for me to eat.

I grinned slightly at him, deciding to let it go. "Well, now I'm scared."

"You should be," he laughed as I took a big bite out of the fruit that he was holding up.

After a few minutes of silence, he sighed in frustration, seeming as if he was giving in to something. I raised my eyebrow at him, silently asking what was wrong.

"I wanted to give this to you later, at a more romantic time, but… There's no time like the present, right? Heh heh…" He shrugged, reaching into his pocket. He swiftly brought out a tiny box, hand poised on top, ready to open.

My eyes widened. What the crap was he doing? He wasn't…. No. No way. I was 17. I couldn't… Well, not yet, anyways!

He inhaled one last time before opening it. I looked down to see a tiny sapphire ring shaped into a heart. A plastic, tiny, sapphire, heart-shaped ring. One that you would get out of a gumball machine.

"A vending machine ring?" I asked, amused and shocked at the same time.

"Well, yeah." He took it out of the box and examined it. "I was going to get you one of those promise rings, but I… Uh. Those things are kind of expensive and I don't really have the money right now… Anyways, I got to thinking and realized that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to eventually get married and have a family with you. But we're still young and you're still in high school so it's too early to get engaged right now so think of this as kind of like… Before an engagement ring. This is a substitute for later on in our lives when I can replace this one for a better and more expensive one," he grinned at me.

My heart fluttered at his sweet words. I gingerly took it from his hands and examined the tiny plastic ring.

He bit his lip anxiously, a worried look in his eyes, wondering what I was going to say.

"…I love it. Really. This… It means a lot to me. Thank you," I said, almost speechless at how thoughtful this guy was.

"Really?" he asked, hopefully.

I nodded. "Really," I grinned and started to put it on.

"Yeah… Uh, I didn't know if it would fit your fingers, since it's a gumball ring and everything so I also bought you this to hang it on," he explained, pulling out a clear, plastic bag. Inside was a plain, silver chain. He took it out of the bag, grinning, took the ring from me, and slid it on the chain.

"There, now you have a necklace," he said, holding up the chain with the ring on it. I grinned, swept my hair aside, turning around, and gestured for him to put it on.

Chills ran down my spine as his slender fingers brushed against my neck repeatedly. He breathed on my neck saying, "There," and pulled away. I turned back around and examined the necklace, marveling at it.

I grinned and felt the plastic ring. "Sapphire?" I asked.

"Well, you don't really get to choose what comes out of the machine…" he rolled his eyes. "I was aiming for the white flower one, because it looked like a lily, but this one came out instead. Plus, I kinda ran out of quarters. But whatever. I'm happy with the result. I guess if you ever miss me or we're ever separated, it can remind you of me because of the color. Or it can be a reminder of how pretty my eyes are," he grinned, fluttering his eyelashes like a girl.

I giggled and looked back and forth from Mal's eyes to the ring. He was right. It matched his eyes almost perfectly.

"Thank you. I love it. Even though it's from a grocery store gumball machine," I smiled, teasingly.

"Wha… What do you mean 'grocery store gumball machine?!' That thing cost me a whole dollar!" he yelped.

I laughed along with him until we both ran out of breath.

After a few seconds, he took my hands in his, clearing his throat. "But on a more serious note… This ring is my promise to you that one day; I will get down on one knee and make you mine…. If you'll have me, of course. It symbolizes that wherever we go in life, I'll always love you and want you, just as much as I do now. As long as you wear this ring, it symbolizes that I want you to be mine," he looked down at the ground, smiling slightly. "I guess what I'm trying to say is… I love you, Nat."

_There's too many things that I want to say, my feelings racing through my body too fast to speak out. My eyes meet his, and it's as if he hears each one loud and clear as if I were speaking them._

"_Mal… There's so much I wish-" I start._

"_I know," he interrupts, eyes locked with mine intensely._

"_But there's not enough time to-" I blurt out, trying to find the right words._

"_I know."_

"_Is there a short version?" I ask, biting my lip._

_Mal rushes forward, grabs me by the neck, and gives me a swift kiss on the lips, firm and fast. He pulls away, looking into my eyes with sincerity._

"_I'm sorry. I love you. Let's catch this son-of-a-bitch."_

_A smile spreads across my face as his words sink in. "Perfect."_

My eyes shined with tears. And suddenly, I realized something.

"I love you too!" I said, biting my lip, trying to hold back my tears.

"_Dad, I honestly believe Jacob is capable of saving Mal… He may be the __**only **__one who can. We __**have **__to do this, father," I say, pleading with my eyes._

"_Mal is a good man. An honorable man. But what you're talking about… Risking your life… Putting yourself in grave danger…" my father says, eyes worried. "Why would you do this?" he finishes._

_I cross the room and gently take my father's large hands in my small ones._

"…_Because I love him."_

"Really?" he asked, eyes shining hopefully.

I nodded. "Really."

He laughed and blew out a breath of relief. "Thank God…" he mumbled.

I just grinned at him.

"So… Does this mean that later on in life, you'll think about marrying me someday?" he asked, looking down at me.

"Yes, yes, yes! Of course! Why wouldn't I?!" I squealed, tackling him with a hug. Somehow, I pushed myself at him a little too forcefully and we both flew off the bench. Mal landed on the ground with an "Oof!" while I landed on his chest, laughing, smiling, and hugging him tightly.

He laughed and looked up at me.

"You're the best!" I exclaimed, grinning happily.

He rolled his eyes. "I know…" he said, cockily, hugging me back.

**Extra scene:**

_**(A/N Third-person P.O.V.)**_

Back in the house, Raj and Anita were watching the couple intently through the window.

"I can't believe they actually got together…" Raj mutters, shaking his head disbelievingly, watching as his 'little girl' tackles her boyfriend in a hug, both laughing the whole time.

"Ah… Young love," Anita agrees, nodding.

"_You reminded me what young love was like," Bruce Mercer, the famous playboy, tells us, smiling widely._

_Mal and I glance at each other uneasily, shocked by his statement._

"_We don't… I mean," I start just as Mal stutters, "We're not… Uh." We both look at each other trying to find the right words to say._

_Bruce rolls his eyes, an obvious smile on his face. "Now, now, you don't have to hide anything. I could tell by the way you talk, the way you laugh together, even the way you argue. You two are proof that there's still real love out there."_

_Mal and I stare at each other, stunned, not believing that this playboy is actually telling us that we are in love. I mean, c'mon. I think we would know if we were in love with each other… And actually tell each other if one was in love with the other. Or, we'd be together by now if we actually… really… seriously… felt something towards the other… Right?!_

"That's true love right there…" Anita added on to her original sentence as her daughter grabbed on to Mal's neck tightly, hugging the breath out of the poor boy.

_**(A/N Yeah… Changed this one up, also.)**_

"_That was the strangest accusation I've ever been a part of," I say, referring to Bruce's earlier statement, looking down in the blue pool water._

"_Definitely. I've been mistaken for a lot of things in my day, but never a shining example of true love," he chuckles, swishing his feet in the water below us._

_I chuckle along with him, then enjoy the small silence in between us._

"_So how about once we get back to San Francisco, we drop the nerd off, go grab some Chinese, and go back to my place, eh?" he asks, raising an eyebrow._

_I pretend to think about it for a moment, tapping my chin. "Hmmmmm," I tease, looking at the sky. I then grin at him and finish with, "I'd say it's a date, partner."_

_His face beams at my positive answer and he looks away from me. The blue glow from the swimming pool illuminates a smile that he is trying to hide._

_After a few minutes of silence, he suddenly sighs, as if he were giving up on an argument. He turns to me, and his lips move as if about to say something._

"_Nat… I…" he starts, then bites his lip, looking unsure of if he should tell me._

"_What is it?" I ask._

_He takes a deep breath before saying, "I love you, Natara." At exactly the same moment he says that, I hear a high-pitched scream from the doorway._

_I look to see Kai watching us intently from the door, eyes wide. _

_My eyebrows furrow in confusion as I turn back to face Mal. Did he just say what I thought he said? I had to know… "What did you say, Mal?" _

_He shakes his head and clears his throat. "I said I love-" he starts, before there is another squeal from the doorway._

"_MALTARAAAAAAAA!" Kai screams as loud as he possibly can. I quickly cover my ears and look over at Mal to see him glaring at Kai, cursing something about 'bad timing.'_

_Kai rushes over to us and puts an arm around both of our shoulders._

"_How we doin' out here, Maltara? Having some fun in the water? Eh? Mal, have you made a move on her yet?! Have you guys kissed! Oh, this is so romantic!" Kai squeals loudly in our ears._

_Mal scowls and glares at the lab tech, muttering darkly, "No…"_

"_Well, why not? This is just ridiculous! You need to hurry up and tell her you love her, Malachi! Don't be such a coward! Good Lord it's taking forever for you two to get together!" Suddenly he stops, eyes wide in realization. "Did I just ruin it?! Did I ruin the moment you were going to tell her?! Oh my goodness! I deserve to die! Why am I so stupid?! Stupid, stupid, stupid!" he exclaims, banging his head against his palm._

_Mal glances at me, raising an eyebrow amusingly. I shrug back at him, feeling my cheeks burn._

_Mal rolls his eyes as Kai continues to beat himself with his hand. "Kai, we weren't doing anything."_

_Kai suddenly stands up and stands in front of Mal at the edge of the pool._

"_Here, Malligator! You can push me in the pool as punishment for ruining your moment! I'll never forgive myself for as long as I live! So push me in! Go ahead… Do it!" he exclaims, dramatically._

_Mal glances over at me again, and I simply shrug. He shrugs back and gets a mischievous look on his face. He smirks and swiftly plants his hands on Kai's shoulders, pushing him in the blue water. Kai makes an unearthly shriek as he flies through the air, landing in the cold pool._

_Mal simply grins down at me as I stand up, dusting myself off, rolling my eyes at his childishness._

_Kai resurfaces, spitting out a mouthful of water, grinning, and says, "Okay… That was awesome. Can you do it again?"_

_Mal stands up and rolls his eyes, annoyed mostly at Kai's enjoyment. "No. We're leaving. Get out of the pool. And don't you even think about getting in my car until you are completely dry. Do you hear me?" He points a finger at the man in the pool accusingly and walks out of the back gate, me following closely behind him._

"I always picked at them and told them that they were going to get together but I never believed that they would actually do it!" Raj exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Oh my my my my. They're quite the couple, alright," Anita shakes her head, rolling her eyes.

"_My! You two are quite the couple…" the tall host exclaims, observing us._

"_We're, uh… Not a couple," Mal states, sheepishly._

Raj nodded, placing an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"I think they're absolutely perfect for each other," Anita sighs, resting her head on Raj's shoulder.

"_And the truth is, I just don't know what to do…" Kai sighs._

"_I know that we're absolutely perfect for each other, but circumstances have conspired to keep us apart," Kai tells Mal from somewhere in the dark trunk._

_Mal hears Kai's words and his mind drifts back to his own recent experiences._

'_Huh… Maybe we're not so different after all…' Mal thinks, face saddening. He sighs and thinks about it for a moment._

"_Listen, Kai, in situations like this, you just have to tell her the truth…" Mal replies._

"_But… But what if she turns me down?" Kai asks._

"_That would hurt, sure… But would it hurt worse than knowing you never even tried to make it work?"_

"_No, I… I guess not!" Kai responds, sounding excited and chipper once again._

"_And who knows, someday she might even turn herself in… Maybe she could testify against the Triads in exchange for a full pardon… I'm just saying there's hope."_

"_You're totally right, Mal!"_

_Mal smiles smugly, deciding not to say anything else and leave Kai to his own thoughts._

_After a few seconds of silence, Kai interrupts with, "Malligator… Are you speaking from experience?!" his voice full of teasing._

"_Shut up, Kai," Mal grumbles._

"Look at her. The way she smiles, that distant, daydreaming air… Anita, I think our daughter is in love," Raj explained.

"_The way she smiles, that distant, daydreaming air…" I balance my phone in the crook of my shoulder while looking at Deb Holland's dreamy face in the interrogation room as she twirls a lock of her hair in between her fingers. "She got someone else on her mind. I've seen it before," I explain to Mal, who is currently driving to the suspect's house._

_It's quiet for a second. "…Firsthand?" Mal asks, quietly._

_I grin and roll my eyes, even though he can't see it. "Focus, Mal."_

Anita sighed and leaned back into her husband's arms. She bit her lip as she watched her first daughter climbing back on the bench and laughing with her boyfriend. She looked up into Raj's eyes knowing that he was thinking the exact same thing as she was.

"Should we tell them?" she asked, quietly, eyes saddening.

"I don't know…" Raj mumbled.

"It will crush her… And him. They'll both be crushed."

"Anita, it's got to happen. We have to tell her sometime."

"I know, but can't we wait just a little while longer? Just a little bit before her world comes crashing down?" she asked, hopefully.

"Anita…" Raj started, sternly.

"Look, Raj," she pointed out the window to the couple. "She looks so happy right now. Do you really want to go out there and ruin that for her?"

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. "No… I guess not."

"Exactly. Just let her have her fun for now. She deserves to have fun, because we both know she'll be a total wreck once she finds out… We'll tell her later, alright?"

"Fine…" he sighed. "But I'm giving you until July. No later than that."

She sighed, eyes drifting back outside to where her daughter was laughing at something Mal had said.

"Fine. July, it is then."

_**What's going on? What does Raj and Anita know that Natara doesn't? Guess you'll just have to find out in the next chapter!**_

_**I hope you liked this chapter. **___

_**So please please please review! Please? It **__is __**my birthday, after all! Come on! It'd be the best birthday gift ever! Pleeeeeeaaaaasssssseeeeeee?!**_

_**Remember I still need random pairings! I've written one whole story of a random pairing and half of another one. I'll post that at a later time though.**_

_**Random question for this chapter…**_

_**(Ironic, I know but…) **_

_**Do you play any sports?**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Hi…**_

_**Sorry, but I don't have a huge, gigantic life story to tell you in this chapter… I'm too tired.**_

_**So, I'm back from Tennessee! I just got back from camping and tomorrow, I head on the cruise to the Bahamas! Gahhh, I'm so excited! Right when I got home from camping, though, I unpacked and headed to my room to type the rest of this chapter so I could upload it tonight, just so I wouldn't feel too bad for not being able to type for a week. Anyways, yeah. Tired. **_

_**My cousin came home from Alaska last night. I was excited.**_

_**You don't wanna hear my life story. Alright. I'll just shut up and do review replies now.**_

_**I haven't done review replies since Chapter 2… Dang. I'll just… Do the ones from chapter 4 and random ones, I guess.**_

**Diamondsintheroughhh: ****(This is from the 1****st**** chapter) Yes. Yes it is based off the scene from the Lion King. XD I couldn't help myself! I had to put it in there!**

**The Beautiful Filth: ****Thank you! I'm sorry! I know I take forever to update! I'm glad that you don't get mad at me for not updating, though! Haha! Well, thank you! Sue all the kindergartens! Lol. Ouch. 3 hour paper? Sounds like torture. Oooo. Stitches are not my thing. Hope you like this chapter!**

**AKgal2001: ****It's okay! I'm perfectly fine now! It healed! **** Thank youuuu! I love your excitement! It just gets me excited!**

**mozzi-girl: ****Thank you! **** Haha. Once I start writing and I get on a roll, I can't stop! That's why each chapter is so lengthy! My writing? I love **_**your **_**writing! You are like… **_**Legendary! **_**And you did probably guess what they're planning. Thank you! Hope you enjoy it!**

**BreezyFan: ****I always always ALWAYS giggle at your reviews. You're too funny and too sweet! And my leg's fine now. It's completely healed, HALLELUJAH! Thank you! **** Awww, you so sweet. Stop it, you. You're making my blush. Thank youuuu! I hope you want to read this! It's not THAT bad.. **

**My Quiet Riot: ****Thank you! Black belt? Dannng, that's awesome! Hope you enjoy the chapter! **

_**If you haven't read my story **_**Random Pairings, **_**please go read it! I don't know if it's just my phone, but it's not showing up on the Cause of Death fanfic page. But that may just be my crazy phone. I don't know! But check it out!**_

_**Oh and thanks for all the random pairing suggestions! They helped out a lot! The next thing I'll be updating is probably the next Random Pairing. Which pairing is it, you ask? I'll never tell. **_____

_**So, here it is! Now you finally get to know what Raj and Anita are hiding from Natara… I bet you already know, but oh well. It wasn't that hard to figure out. **_

_**Hope you enjoy! Please review! **_

_**Oh, and uh…Don't kill me! **___

**Natara's Song**

**Chapter 5**

_***Several months later***_

_**(Natara's P.O.V.)**_

Several months had passed since Mal had given me my vending machine ring. It was a warm day in July. I had just gotten home from a 'Girl's Day Out' with Lisa and went straight to my bed to read yet, another chapter of _'Great Expectations' _by Charles Dickens, which was one of my favorite books. Every single time that I had pulled it out, Mal would wrinkle his nose and go on about how 'He didn't get it' and how 'He didn't know why I would read such a big book for fun' and 'Why I would read for fun anyways.' I just always rolled my eyes and giggled.

I had just turned the page to Chapter 47 when I could hear my parents argue whispering in the hallway. I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion because my parents never fought. I stayed stock still and strained my ears to hear what they were saying. Since they were so far away, I could only catch parts of their conversations.

"- and it's already the middle of July, Anita!" I heard my father whisper.

"-still have time."

"You promised!"

"But-"

"-have to tell her today!"

"Ra-"

"-in a month!"

"Fine," I heard my mother sigh loudly. I then heard footsteps coming in my room's direction so I quickly grabbed my book and pretended that I was reading.

The door to my bedroom slowly opened as my mom peeked her head in. I peeked over the top of my book to see her give me a sheepish smile.

"Can we come in?" she asked.

I nodded my head. "Sure?"

She opened the door the rest of the way and walked in, my father following close behind.

Worry crept into my body as I watched them walk in with solemn expressions. The first thing that came to mind was Neha. Was she hurt? No, because I could hear her watching TV downstairs. Did somebody die? Was someone sick? Did something happen to Mal? Was someone diagnosed with cancer? Was someone in an accident? Were they in the hospital? What?

"Natara, can you come downstairs for a minute? We have something to tell you and your sister," my mom said, biting her lip.

"Okay…" I said, a bit uneasy as I laid down my book and walked downstairs.

I slowly sat down on the couch, eyeing my parents suspiciously.

My mother picked up the TV remote and turned off _The Little Mermaid_, making my little sister whine.

"Hey! My movie!" she exclaimed.

"Natara, Neha. Your mother and I have something that we've been meaning to tell you…" my father said, seriously.

_Mal hops up on the roof of the car, right beside me. The early morning chill blows across my cheeks, causing me to shiver. Mal notices and scoots closer to me, so that we are huddling together._

_As he shifts towards me, I feel him place his hand on top of mine… Right on the wedding ring. As soon as his hand comes into contact with the ring, he jerks his hand away and snaps his head downwards, as if to confirm that it was an engagement ring._

_He lifts his head towards my own, eyes showing sadness and hurt._

_Both of our heads look down towards the ring. The diamond on top of my fingers shines brightly as the sun begins to rise._

"_Mal… I've been meaning to tell you," I bite my lip, wondering how he's going to react._

"…_Oscar and I are engaged."_

_His eyes widen considerably before looking up at my face to see if I'm serious._

"_You're serious?" he asks._

_I give him a curt nod._

_He looks back down at the ring and once he lifts his head back up, I can tell that he's hurting inside but just doesn't want to show it. He has such a sad expression on his face… One of a sad, lost puppy. He looks at the ground, biting his lip._

"_I… I better go," he says, not meeting my eyes, hopping off the hood of the car._

"_No, Mal wait…"_

"_I'm really tired. It's… It's been a really long day. I'll… Uh, I'll see you later, Natara."_

_Completely forgetting about his car, Mal walks down the street with his head down._

_I watch him walk away with saddened eyes._

"_Mal…" I call after him, but it's too late. He's gone._

"You guys aren't getting divorced, are you?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

My father looked confused for a moment before shaking his head. "No, no. Not that. It's actually good news!"

I breathed out a sigh of relief, worry washing out of my body in waves.

"Natara… This is for you," my mother handed me a letter, smiling hesitantly.

The front of the envelope was addressed to me with the stamp of Grantmore University, my dream college, on the corner.

I slowly opened the envelope, pulling out the letter. I opened the letter, eager to see what was inside.

I almost had a heart attack right then and there. My eyes widened in disbelief as I read the first line.

**Dear Ms. Mansingh:**

**On behalf of Grantmore University, I am pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Grantmore University for the Fall Semester 1998. You will report on campus the fall following your Senior Year.**

That's all I had to read.

"I… I got accepted? But how?!" I asked, looking up at my parents with excitement.

My father gave my mother an '_I told you so' _look and smiled at me.

"We went ahead and signed up for you."

"Is that even legal? How do I already know that I've been accepted?"

My father shrugged. "I know a few people."

"You… You paid my way in?!" my eyes narrowed into a glare.

"No, no, no. If I could pay your way in, you'd be going to Harvard or Yale. They were all impressed with your grades and academics plus I know a few men over there and I got you right in!" he exclaimed, looking proud of himself.

"Wow," I breathed, looking back down at the letter in my hands. I couldn't believe it… I got accepted into my dream college.

Excitement was building up inside of me and I had to let it out somehow.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK! I'M GOING TO GRANTMORE! I'M GOING TO GRANTMORE! I'M GOING TO GRANTMORE!" I squealed, hopping off of the couch and wrapping my parents up in a hug, bouncing up and down.

They both smiled warmly at my excitement as I jumped around the room, squealing. I looked over to see Neha jumping up and down on the couch screaming her little head off.

"GRANTMORE! GRANTMORE! GRANTMORE!" she screamed.

My parents winced as they watched both of their children, one 17 and one 4, bounce around the living room, shrieking their heads off.

"We…" My father bit his lip. "We move in a month!" he announced over our yelling.

I immediately froze upon hearing those words.

My head snapped back to look at my father.

"Move?!" I exclaimed.

He nodded.

"Why?!"

"Why, so we can be closer to Grantmore, of course!"

"Why in a month? It says I have to move the fall **after **my senior year! I'm not a senior yet, Dad!"

"I know, but we figured it would be better for you and your sister. It'd be better if you had some friends from school that were going to Grantmore. And the neighborhood that we're moving to is only about twenty minutes from the University. Plus, your sister starts Kindergarten in the fall, so she could make new friends and not have to make friends here and then leave them."

"But I already have friends here! It's… It's my senior year! I can't move now!"

"You'll make new friends. It'll be fine," he waved me off.

"No," I shook my head, anger beginning to course through my body.

"Yes you can and you will. You'll love it there," he said, sternly.

"No. No I will not. I'm not moving. I grew up here, Dad. I love it _**here.**_ This is my home! You can't take me away from that!" My voice started raising a few octaves.

"Nonsense! You'll move into a new home. You'll be just fine."

"You can't just make me move right before my senior year!" I felt the tears pricking my eyes as I tried to hold them back.

"Yes, I can. I'm your father and what I say, goes. We're moving in a month. I suggest you just accept the fact that we're leaving," his voice started rising, and I could tell he was getting angry.

"I won't accept anything! YOU move! I'm staying here. I don't care what you say. I'm not leaving my childhood home and my friends that I've known since BIRTH for absolutely no reason. You can't make me!" I shouted, tears starting to fall down my cheeks.

"Stop acting like a child! You cannot change my mind! It's already done!"

"Stop treating me like one then! Let me make my own decisions! I don't want to move and YOU. CAN'T. MAKE. ME!"

"Enough, Natara! We're moving and that's final! Now, I suggest you say goodbye to all of your friends and start packing!" he shouted.

I simply glared at him, tears streaming down my cheeks. I looked at my mother to see her looking down at the ground, sadness in her eyes. I looked out of the corner of my eye to see Neha staring at the both of us with wide eyes.

I gave my father one last glare before letting out a heart-wrenching sob and running towards my room.

"Wait, Natara-" my mother called out in a soft voice, starting to chase after me.

My father held out his arm to stop her and silently shook his head. "Give her some time. She'll get used to the idea. It'll all be okay."

"I sure hope so…" my mother sighed, watching my retreating figure.

I ran into my bedroom, hurriedly slamming the door, locking it, and falling onto my bed in a weeping mess.

I… I couldn't move!

I already had so many friends… I couldn't just leave them! Lisa, Chloe, Malia, Tori, Clarry, Jasper, Luke, Ryan, Jackson, Oliver, Hunter, Jason, all of my other friends… _Mal. _Oh no. What was I going to tell him? How would he react? What was I going to do? I can't leave him! I couldn't even begin imagining my life without Mal!

A steady flow of tears began trickling down my cheeks as I imagined my life without Mal. I definitely couldn't do this now.

I grabbed my phone and through my tears, sent a text message to him.

_**Can you please come over? I've got something to tell you and I need help.  
-Natara**_

_**On my way.  
-Mal**_

_**Use window, please?  
-Natara**_

_**Sure. I'll be there in 8 minutes.  
-Mal**_

I sighed in relief as I read his message. Everything would be fine! Mal would be here in a few minutes and we'd just talk it over. Everything would turn out okay… I hoped.

A few minutes later I heard a small tap coming from my window. My head whipped around to see Mal perched on the tree outside of my room's branch, waving. He had a smile on his face, but a worried look in his eye. Most likely, because if he even slightly got off balance, he would fall out of the tree.

If I didn't feel like I was about to sob my heart out, I would've laughed at his position. But I didn't. It was just another reminder that I would never get to watch Mal climb the tree up to my window again once I moved. Instead, I just smiled sadly, wiped a tear from my cheek, walked over to the window, and slid up the pane.

He climbed into my room through the window, ducking to make sure not to bump his head on the top of it.

"What's wrong, sweetheart?" he immediately asked as soon as he climbed in.

I inhaled and opened my mouth, but I couldn't find the words to tell him. Tears pricked in my eyes as I thought about having to move away.

As soon as the tears threatened to spill, he automatically pulled me to him, hugging me tightly. He wrapped one arm around my waist while the other was softly stroking my hair. I clutched onto the front of his shirt, buried my head deep in his chest, and started to cry.

"Hey, it'll be alright. Whatever it is, you'll get through it. Okay? You'll be fine. Just breathe, Natara… Just breathe" he whispered to me soothingly.

After a few minutes, I stopped crying, finally getting my breathing under control. He slightly pulled away from me, cupping my face in his hands as he looked me in the eyes.

"Hey, hey… It's okay, alright? I'm here now. Everything's going to be okay. Now why don't you tell me what has happened?" he asked, thumb swiping across my cheek to wipe away the tears.

He took me by the hand and led me to my bed, where he sat straight in front of me. I turned to face him, as he faced me.

"Now, what's wrong?" he asked, eyes looking worried.

I sniffled and took his hands in my own, fiddling with his fingers. After a few seconds of silence, I built up all of my courage and whispered softly, "I got accepted into Grantmore."

His face rearranged into first shock, then pride.

"That's great, Nat!" he exclaimed, excitedly.

"No, it's not," I murmured quietly.

His proud expression turned into confusion. "What do you mean 'it's not?' It _**is **_great, Natara! A lot of people would _**kill **_to get accepted into Grantmore! And what's even more amazing is that you're only a Junior and you've already been accepted into one of California's best schools!" he exclaimed, disbelievingly.

"But it isn't great! Getting accepted into Grantmore means that I have to move away from San Francisco! They're making me start my senior year over at one of the high schools so I'll be closer to Grantmore! And now my parents are telling me that I have to move there in _**one **_month!" I shrieked, feelings tears forming in my eyes once again.

His confused look turned into one of shock. His eyes widened and his mouth popped open. "But that means-"

"It means in one month, I have to leave San Francisco, school, all of my friends… and you, Mal," I whispered, looking down at our intertwined hands as one single tear escaped from my eye and made its way down my cheek.

I glanced up to see Mal also staring at our hands, his eyes wide and his mouth slightly ajar from shock.

It took a few seconds before he cleared his throat and his brain to say something. "It'll be okay…" is all he could come up with.

"No, it's not, Mal! Grantmore is hours away from here! We'll never get to see each other!" I sniffled, flying into his embrace, hugging him tightly.

"I… We… We can still visit each other every weekend. It'll be just like now when I'm at college. We'll meet somewhere in the middle on weekends. It'll be okay," he stammered, trying to brighten up the situation.

"Yeah, maybe…" I said, still in his embrace.

"But what if we forget about each other?" I asked suddenly.

"We won't, Nat…" he hugged me to him tighter. "I'll never forget about you."

It was silent for several minutes as we were left in our own thoughts.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Mal asked, kissing me gently on my forehead.

"We're never going to get to see each other…" I mumbled.

It was silent for a few more minutes before he spoke up.

"I'm happy for you, Nat. I really am…" he murmured, lips pressed against my forehead.

_Mal's face saddens as he turns his head to look at me, guiltily._

"_Look, about earlier, I wanted to apologize."_

_I look at him, eyebrows furrowed in confusion._

"_I know that you and Shawn wanted to have a night together…" he trails off._

"_You called me because you had a new lead on the case," I tell him._

"_Yeah, I know, but still… I want you to know that I want you to be happy," he says, eyes sad._

"_Right… I know, it's sudden, and you must think I'm __**crazy,**__ but I just…" I stammer running a hand through my hair frustratingly. I was so not prepared to tell Mal that I was engaged to Oscar. I mean, he could've found out a much better way than this. By just looking down and noticing my engagement ring. I should've just not been a coward and told him right when he came back from Las Vegas… Oh wait. I couldn't have because he was hanging out with Blaise. His new girlfriend._

"_I'm happy for you," he interrupts me._

_I pause for a minute, unsure of what he just said. He's… He's happy for me? _

"…_Do you really mean that?"_

"_I really do," he puts on his biggest smile but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. _

_I blow out a sigh of relief. Thank God. I don't know what I would do if I didn't have Mal to support me along the way. He was my best friend. I couldn't live with him being mad at me for the rest of my life._

"_Good. Because I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have your support," I grin at him._

_He shrugs and rolls his eyes teasingly. "Well, then stop worrying so much. 'Cause you'll always have it." He smiles genuinely at me._

_I smile back and give a deep sigh of relief._

_Mal pulls me close, embracing me firmly._

_I wrap my arms around him and squeeze, burying my face in his shoulder for one warm moment._

_I grin even brighter as he hugs me back, squeezing just as tight. Thank God I had my best friend back._

_When I first hugged him, he smiled at me. As I hugged him, his face turned to neutral. What I couldn't see though, was the way his face saddened as the engagement finally sunk in his head. I was getting married. And that meant, he didn't have a chance anymore…_

I sniffled. "Thanks…"

"If anyone deserves to go to that school, it's you. You're a great, intelligent, determined and confident girl. You'll get through this."

"_Neha'll be fine. And you'll be fine. Because the two of you are great, intelligent, and confident women. And that's what's really important, no matter what you call yourself," Mal says, taking my hands in his and looking deep into my eyes._

"_That might just be the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me…"I pause. "__**Malachi**__." I tease._

"_Hey! I told you, no one calls me that any more!" he exclaims._

"_I thought names didn't matter!"_

"_Yeah, well, your name's not __**Malachi**__! I mean, what am I, an Amish preacher?"_

"_Hee hee!"_

"Now cheer up, Junior genius. You're going to your _**dream **_college. You've literally been talking about going there ever since we were kids. This should be the happiest day of your life. You should be downstairs with your family, laughing. Not upstairs crying your eyes out," he tried to cheer me up. His excited tone was contagious and I began to get a little bit excited too. Deep down, I was still devastated, but I decided to look at the bright side of this situation. I was going to Grantmore University!

I didn't say anything so he kept going on. "Just think about it. You're probably the only Junior in _**history **_to get accepted into a school as big as Grantmore so early! You're going to go up there and outsmart everybody. You're gonna go to your dream college, kick some professor _**ass, **_and become the smartest businesswoman in history. In the meantime, I'll be going to my crappy college that I just barely got accepted into and become the greatest detective San Francisco has ever seen. Then, you'll either come back for me or I'll just have to move my ass up there, we'll get married, and make some adorable little Mal Fallons'."

"Who said we were going to have Mal Fallons'? I want some Natara Mansinghs'."

"It'd be Natara Fallon by then," he smiled lovingly at me.

I giggled and blushed, hiding my face with my hair.

He lifted my chin up to where I could look into his eyes, and smiled at me, a relieved expression on his face. "Ahhh, there it is. There's that smile that I fell in love with."

I rolled my eyes but grinned anyways. This is why I loved Mal. He always knew how to cheer me up, even on my worst days.

"Now, come on." He nodded towards the stairs. "Let's go celebrate with my future father and mother-in-law."

I drew in a deep inhale and nodded, standing up. He walked behind me as we walked down the stairs towards my living room.

Just before we walked in the living room, he grabbed my hand.

"You can do this. Your parents just want what's best for you, you know…"

I looked up to see him staring intently at me. A small wave of sadness and pity flooded through me. Mal didn't have that. His mom was sick and his dad spent all of his time at work. When he was off of work, he was taking care of Mal's mother. Mal's sister had already moved out and married. So, Mal really didn't have anybody.

I knew Mal wanted me to have a good relationship with my parents just because he didn't have a great relationship with his own parents. He always encouraged me to enjoy it while they were still alive and healthy. He pushed me to be great at everything because he couldn't be. And all because Mal wanted what's best for me.

So I had to be strong. If not for myself, then for Mal.

I nodded quietly. "I know…"

He grinned slightly at me. "That's my girl…" He leaned in and quickly kissed me on the forehead, lovingly.

He gave my hand a gentle squeeze before we walked into the living room.

Both of my parents were sitting on the couch, side by side. My mother looked worried, her eyebrows knit together. My father had a stony expression on his face. He showed absolutely no emotion besides the slight worried look in his eyes. They both were staring off into space. Neha was nowhere in sight. She was probably in her room or in the kitchen.

As soon as Mal and I stepped in the living room, their heads snapped to us. Their eyes were wide and they, for once, looked scared to death to hear what I was going to say.

It was silent for a moment as I tried to figure out what to say.

I felt Mal give my hand a gentle squeeze. I looked back at him to see him nod his head towards my parents as if to say 'go on.'

I nodded and faced my parents once again. They didn't seem too surprised to see Mal here so they must've heard him drive up.

"Alright. So, I'm not happy about moving so early. I hate the fact that I have to move my senior year and I still don't think that it's fair…" I trailed off.

A sigh blew out of my mouth. "But, I understand that it's in your best interests, so fine. I'll move in a month and next year, I will go to Grantmore." I decided.

Relieved expressions replaced their worried ones as they both blew out sighs of relief.

"Thank God…" I heard my father mutter.

"Ohhhh, I'm so excited for you! My baby's growing up so fast!" my mother exclaimed.

I had to smile at that, but suddenly sobered up.

"On one condition…"

"Anything…" they both agreed.

"I can hang out with my friends and do anything that I want to, whenever I want to this month."

"Alright…" they started off.

"AND… When I'm up there, I can drive back to San Francisco on the weekends," I bargained.

"If you complete all of your homework and have your tests studied for," my father said.

"Deal," I agreed.

"Then it's a deal." He nodded.

I turned towards Mal, grinning in excitement. His expression mirrored mine. We both laughed and squished each other in a tight hug. My parents just laughed along with us, glad that the tension was over.

After we let go, there was a slightly awkward pause, as we all figured out what to say next.

I looked to Mal, knowing that he'd have something to say.

He shrugged and decided to go for it.

"Well… We're going to Grantmore!" he exclaimed, breaking the awkward silence. We all laughed as he fist pumped the air.

"Now, where's the celebratory wine?!" he joked.

My father gave him a death glare. "Not on your life, Fallon."

Mal chuckled. "It's nice to see you too, Mr. Mansingh."

We all laughed again as Mal and I went to go sit down on the opposite couch.

I saw, out of the corner of my eye, my father look to Mal and mouth, "Is she okay?"

Mal simply nodded and mouthed back, "She's fine."

After a few minutes of chatting about college, my father said, "Now, I have one rule for your 'do whatever you want, when you want for a month' negotiation."

"And that is…?" I asked.

My father gave me a stern look. "No drinking, no smoking, no drugs, no getting arrested, and no sex." He eyed Mal up and down threateningly.

Mal grinned, ducked his head to the floor, and shook his head, disbelievingly.

I stared at my dad in shock.

"Of course not, Mr. Mansingh. When's the last time I got her arrested? Oh yeah, never!" he grinned.

"I'm not so worried about that. It's the teenage hormones I'm worried about. That, combined with extended goodbyes equals some crazy time alone and then grandchildren. And I'm not old enough for those yet…"

"Dad!" I shrieked in embarrassment, blushing as red as a tomato.

"What? It's true!"

"Just… Go get the celebratory drink! Please!" I begged.

"Fine," he looked at Mal. "But we're drinking apple juice."

"That's good enough for me! I love apple juice!" he grinned widely.

He looked at Mal again. "If she ends up pregnant, I'll know who's junk to shoot off. If you know what I mean."

Mal's mouth popped open in shock, as did mine.

"Daddy!" I yelled.

"Raj!" my mom exclaimed.

"Whaaat?" he asked, looking at my mother and me.

"Juice! Now!" I yelled, completely embarrassed now.

My dad eyed Mal sternly. "I'm keeping an eye out for you, boy."

"Yes, sir," Mal laughed nervously.

As my dad and mom were walking towards the kitchen, he turned around and did the 'I'm watching you' symbol with his two fingers, making Mal laugh.

They both went into the kitchen, leaving Mal and me alone.

"Have I ever told you that you're dad scares me?" he asked.

"Just about every day, yes," I nodded.

"Well, your dad scares me…" he repeated again.

I grinned.

It was silent for a couple of moments as we both drifted off into our own thoughts.

I couldn't help the worried feeling that crawled back up into the pit of my stomach. I just couldn't shake the feeling that this was going to end in total disaster.

Mal seemed to sense my oncoming nervousness because he grabbed both of my hands in his, looked me straight in the eyes, and smiled confidently at me.

"I promise you that everything is going to be okay," he assured me, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.

And finally, I began to actually believe him. I was going to Grantmore University. I wasn't going to lose Mal or my friends because I was able to drive back to San Francisco on the weekends. I would get to meet new people and have new friends. This was going to be amazing.

With my parents right beside me and Mal supporting my every move and being there for me, I think I truly am going to be okay…

_**Well, that's the end of chapter 5.**_

_**I know… It was suckish and short. Kind of had writer's block for this one… **_

_**Anyways… **_

_**Thanks for reading! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! **___

_**Remember to check out **_**Random Pairings **_**on my profile page!**_

_**Until I get back from the Bahamas… Hasta La Vista! **_

_**Oh, don't you even dare go all "That's Spanish, you idiot. The Bahamas isn't in Mexico!"**_

_**Because, it's close enough! **_

_**Whatever…**_

_**Bye, y'all.**_

_**There… Happy?**_

_**My answer for last chapter's question.**_

_Do you play any sports?_

_**My answer:**_** Yes, I do. I play basketball, I cheer, I run track, and I dance as a side thing. I'd like to play tennis, but with every other sport, I don't have time.**

_**Random question for this chapter.**_

_**Are you going anywhere for this summer vacation?**_

_**My answer: **_**I went to Tennessee with my grandma and I go to the Bahamas tomorrow! **


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